Are Diatom-based Indices from Europe Suitable for River Health assessment in China? A Case Study from Taizi River, Northeastern China

Aims: Diatom-based indices are widely used for river health assessment. Many such indices were originally developed in European countries based on a specific taxa list of benthic diatoms. Thus, the transferability of these indices to other rivers and geographic locations has been questioned. Design, Place and Duration of Study: In this study, we sampled benthic diatoms in the Taizi River, a temperate river in northeastern China during May 2009 to evaluate the applicability of eight commonly used diatom-based indices for assessing the principal water quality gradient and relationship with different water chemical parameters.