5-Year Impact Factor: 1.4
CiteScore: 3.1
Ecological Analysis of Chironomid Larvae (Diptera, Chironomidae) in Ergene River Basin (Turkish Thrace)
2 Applied Ecology, 10 Rue des Fenouils, 34070 Montpellier, France
3 Trakya University, Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Biology, Hydrobiology Section, Edirne, Turkey DOI : 10.4194/trjfas.2010.0114 Viewed : 4550 - Downloaded : 4073 In the present study, chironomid larvae were sampled periodically between the years 1995-96 during the one year at eight different localities of Ergene River Basin. A total of 60 chironomid taxa (325 individuals/m2) were recorded in the River and its tributaries (Ergene River Basin) during the sampling period. Also, it evaulated the larval chironomid assemblages in Meriç-Ergene River Basin which is amongst the most important wetland area in European part of Turkey. Furthermore, it determined the physicochemical properties of the water to analyse the relationships between species composition of chironomid communities and environmental parameters.
Structure of sediment at each sampling station of Ergene River Basin was revealed to determine the substratum preference of the larvae. It was that found sediment nutrient enrichment strongly influenced chironomid assemblage structure. Furthermore, main results due to species diversity, density of populations, similarities for the sampling stations and the substratum types were discussed.
According to Shannon index, species diversity of the Basin was found as H'=1.41 at average. Also, Spearman index has indicated that significant correlations were found between chironomid larval densities and some environmental variables such as conductivity (r=-0.708), dissolved oxygen (r=+0.810), biological oxygen demand (r=+0.822), and chemical oxygen demand (r=+0.805) for P<0.05.
Keywords : chironomidae, biodiversity, substratum, Ergene River, Turkey