Abstract:Based on the monitoring data for macroinvertebrates from 24 sampling sites, five indices including the Goodnight-Whitley modified index(GBI), the average score per taxon(ASPT)index, the family biotic index(FBI), the Shannon-Wiener index, and the benthic index of biotic integrity(B-IBI)were used to assess the health status of the main stream and tributaries of the Dongjiang River Basin. The applicability of the indices to the basin was studied. The results show that the overall health status of the Dongjiang River Basin was at a middle level but varied in different parts of the basin: the upper basin had a healthy status, the central part had a moderately heathy status, and the lower part had an unhealthy or extremely unhealthy status. Analysis of the responses of different indices to various types of human activities shows that all the indices, excluding the ASPT index, can reflect the influence of human activities to various degrees. Of the indices, the GBI index was a good indicator of phosphor contamination, the FBI index was a good indicator of nitrite nitrogen contamination, the Shannon-Wiener index could indicate organic pollution well while it had a significantly negative correlation with conductivity, and the B-IBI index had a strongly positive correlation with dissolve oxygen, being a good indicator to ammonia contamination. In conclusion, the comprehensive assessment of the Dongjiang River Baisn with different biological indices can not only reflect the whole condition of the basin reliably, but also indicate the effect of different types of human activities on the river ecosystem of the basin.