Using free-living nematode communities as biological monitoring of environmental quality status in Ben Tre city

Nematode communities were used as a tool to assess the environmental quality status of sediment of the water bodies in Ben Tre city. Eight locations in the main canals and river in the city were surveyed during the rainy season (September). The study recorded 51 genera belonging to 33 families, 10 orders (Araeolaimida, Chromadorida, Desmodorida, Dorylaimida, Enoplida, Monhysterida, Mononchida, Plectida, Rhabditida, and Triplonchida), 2 classes (Chromadorea and Enoplia). The density of nematode communities at most survey locations is quite high, ranging from 29.88 +/- 38.01 to 1172.08 +/- 659.74 individuals/10 cm2. However, the biodiversity is quite low, species richness index (S) ranged from 5.33 1.15 to 18.33 4.72, and Shannon diversity index (H') from 1.28 +/- 0.12 to 3.19 +/- 0.50 and Pielou's evenness index (J') from 0.47 +/- 0.04 to 0.93 +/- 0.04. The Maturity Index (MI) of nematode communities was applied to assess the environmental quality status of sediment. The results showed that the environmental quality status of sediment recorded disturbances, classified as bad to moderate. The colonizer-persister (c-p) combined with the MI is a potential tool in biological monitoring of environmental quality status. However, to increase the reliability of evaluation conclusions, the combination of MI and biological indicators as well as physical-chemical parameters is necessary.