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Structure of Macroinvertebrate Communities in Relation to Environmental Variables in a Subtropical Asian River System
Author(s) -
Jiang XiaoMing,
Xiong Jing,
Qiu JianWen,
Wu JinMing,
Wang JianWei,
Xie ZhiCai
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
international review of hydrobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 1434-2944
DOI - 10.1002/iroh.200811131
Subject(s) - canonical correspondence analysis , habitat , community structure , benthic zone , ecology , subtropics , invertebrate , biodiversity , geography , environmental science , environment variable , drainage basin , biology , cartography
Subtropical Asian rivers support a highly diverse array of benthic macroinvertebrates. Yet, their biodiversity and functionality has been poorly investigated. We choose the Chishui River system, one of the largest un‐dammed, first level branches upstream of the Yangtze River, China, to: 1) determine the spatial pattern of macroinvertebrate diversity and community structure, and 2) examine the influence of variables at local habitat and basin scales on the distribution of macroinvertebrate communities. Samples were collected from 43 sites in spring of 2007. After Canonical Correspondence Analysis, two basin and five habitat variables were found to be significant predictors of the macroinvertebrate community structure. Variance partitioning analysis showed that habitat physical variables had a greater influence than other environmental variables in macroinvertebrate community, which suggested that preserving habitat, especially upstream, should be strongly considered in biological conservation. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)