Open AccessMonitoring of river health using aquatic insects: A study on Jatinga River, North East India
Author(s) -
Tanushree Chakravarty,
Susmita Gupta
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
aquatic research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2618-6365
DOI - 10.3153/ar21031
Subject(s) - bioindicator , monsoon , abundance (ecology) , gerridae , drainage basin , water quality , ecology , aquatic insect , geography , river ecosystem , estuary , streams , environmental science , biomonitoring , hydrology (agriculture) , biology , hemiptera , habitat , computer network , cartography , geotechnical engineering , meteorology , computer science , engineering
A biomonitoring study of River Jatinga located in south Assam, north east In-dia was conducted for the first time. The study aimed to evaluate water quality of the river in different stretches using aquatic in-sect as bioindicators. Insect samples were collected from selected sites of mid-stream and downstream of the river during monsoon- post monsoon, 2018 and winter- pre monsoon, 2019. A total of 25 families of aquatic insects recorded from 8 orders; Gerridae was eudominant in midstream across all the seasons with highest percentage in win-ter. Hemiptera, the most di-verse group was represented by six families with highest relative abundance. The study found that although both the sites were repre-sented by same functional feeding groups, there were seasonal and spatial varia-tions in the families of in-sects and their percentage occurrences. All the biotic indices, BMWPTHAI, SIG-NAL2 scores, EPT % and HFBI have shown relatively better quality of water of the River Jatinga in the mid-stream than that in the downstream during mon-soon and post monsoon sea-sons. Presence/absence and abundance of certain insect groups can provide infor-mation about health of the river.