engleski

Reflection of hydromorphological features on the macroinvertebrate-based bioassessment of inland waters

It is not even debatable that macroinvertebrates are a component of great importance in the freshwater ecosystem. They not only play an inevitable role in energy flow through benthic food webs, but also present an excellent indicator of water quality and ecosystem health. Macroinvertebrate's indication importance is based on well investigated differences in physicochemical parameters sensitivity of each present taxon. Furthermore, macroinvertebrates were thoroughly studied and their traits are well known. They are rather large which facilitates collection and identification ; they have limited areal range and a quite long life cycle suitable for monitoring environmental changes. However, scarce are the reports that assess macroinvertebrate community composition in respect to the hydromorphological traits. Is it because such correlation is not significant enough or even does not exist? Well, the aim of our study was to examine this. The area of research comprised 21 sites in Dinaric coastal ecoregion divided in 5 groups, based on altitude position, flow stability and size of waterbody. We took samples with the Surber sampler during spring and identified the macroinvertebrates to the lowermost taxonomical level. We used Asterics software for calculating bioassessment metrics and evaluation of water quality to compare them and potentially link differences within hydrological groups. Perennial and/or montainous water bodies were of higher water quality, i.e. lower saprobity, comparing to the lowland larger rivers. Accordingly, the former habitats support higher diversity and number of taxa.

bioindicators, Croatia

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