# Evaluating Mathematical Concordance Between Taxonomic and Functional Diversity Metrics in Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities

## TL;DR

This study compares how well taxonomic and functional diversity metrics reflect river health in the Paute River Basin, showing that combining both can improve ecological assessments.

## Contribution

The study provides a replicable framework for integrating taxonomic and functional metrics in tropical freshwater biomonitoring.

## Key findings

- Most taxonomic and functional metrics responded similarly to habitat quality changes, showing ecological relevance.
- ABI showed sensitivity to habitat quality but low concordance with functional metrics, indicating unique biological insights.
- Combining metrics with different properties enhances the robustness of freshwater biomonitoring.

## Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly threatened by habitat degradation and other environmental pressures. To assess the condition of rivers and streams, scientists often use bioindicators such as aquatic macroinvertebrates. These organisms can be studied using traditional taxonomic approaches (based on taxa composition) or through functional traits (which describe their ecological roles). In this study, we analyzed data from the Paute River Basin situated in the tropical Andes of Ecuador to evaluate how well taxonomic and functional diversity metrics align with each other. Our results show that certain functional and taxonomic metrics provide similar ecological information, while others diverge. This suggests that combining both perspectives may improve river health assessments. The findings offer a replicable framework that can help improve biomonitoring efforts in tropical freshwater systems.

Understanding the structural concordance between taxonomic and functional diversity (FD) metrics is essential for improving the ecological interpretation of community patterns in biomonitoring programs. This study evaluated the concordance between taxonomic and FD metrics of benthic macroinvertebrates along a fluvial habitat quality gradient in the Paute River Basin, Ecuador. Macroinvertebrate communities were sampled over six years at twelve sampling points and assessed using four taxonomic metrics: Shannon diversity (H), the Margalef index (DMg), family richness (N), and the Andean Biotic Index (ABI). Functional diversity was evaluated using four metrics: weighted functional dendrogram-based diversity (wFDc), Rao’s quadratic entropy (Rao), functional dispersion (FDis), and functional richness (FRic). The fluvial habitat index (FHI) was used as an environmental reference to evaluate diversity metric responses. K-means clustering was independently applied to each metric, and pairwise concordance was quantified using the Measure of Concordance (MoC) and overlap in sampling points groupings across replicates. Most metrics (except FRic and N) showed clear responsiveness to the FHI gradient, confirming their ecological relevance. Strong structural concordance was observed between H and DMg and the FD metrics Rao, FDis, and wFDc, showing that these metrics captured similar yet complementary aspects of community organization. In contrast, ABI showed marked sensitivity to the FHI gradient but low concordance with functional metrics, suggesting distinct dimensions of biological integrity not encompassed by trait-based metrics. These findings highlight the value of combining taxonomic and functional metrics to detect both broad and subtle ecological changes. Integrating metrics with differing structural properties and environmental sensitivities can enhance the robustness of freshwater biomonitoring frameworks, especially in systems undergoing ecological transition or habitat degradation.