onclusions
Although our reference sites were not truly undisturbed but
rather were the least disturbed, the results indicated that the
general ecological status of ecoregion I1 was “fair” and ecoregion
I2 was “poor”, both lower than “good.” Therefore, our study
demonstrated an urgent need for an appropriate management and
restoration policy in the Taihu Basin. Moreover, to attain a better
ecological status, differences among ecoregions should be considered
when developing management measures in the basin. The
MMIs constructed for the two ecoregions successfully reflected the
structure and characteristics of regional benthic macroinvertebrates
and can be used as assessment tools in ecological
biomonitoring and management of the Taihu basin.