Effect of environmrntal disturbances on odonata assemblages along a tropical polluted river
Odonata larvae have been intensively used as bioindicators for freshwater pollution as their community structure closely follow changes in the environment and habitat settings. In this study, 28 taxa of Odonata larvae were collected from three stations (upper, middle and lower) of a polluted rive...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/61681/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/61681/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/61681/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/61681/1/Nurul%20Huda%20et%20al%202017%20Effect%20of%20Environmrntal%20Disturbances.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/61681/7/61681_effect%20of%20environmental%20disturbances_scopus.pdf |
| Summary: | Odonata larvae have been intensively used as bioindicators for freshwater pollution as their community
structure closely follow changes in the environment and habitat settings. In this study, 28
taxa of Odonata larvae were collected from three stations (upper, middle and lower) of a polluted
river in Malaysia. The upper river basin receives effluents from an oil palm plantation. However,
the middle station is presumably contaminated with anthropogenic wastes. The lower station
is found to receive polluted discharges from aquaculture outlet. Several environmental parameters
of water and sediment were continuously measured during the study. The water parameters
showed no significant differences amongst the three stations. The species richness of Odonata was
22, 24 and 20 in the upper, middle and lower stations, respectively. The abundance of Odonata was
significantly different among the studied sites. The tolerant damselfly, Pseudagrion sp. (41.22%),
and facultative dragonflies, Onychothemis sp. (17.12%), were the most dominant taxa along the
river stations. Onychothemis sp. and Paragomphus capricornis were equally important at the upper
station [Important Species Index (ISI) 25.3 and 24.2%, respectively]. Pseudagrion sp. only scored
an ISI value of 9.7%. Pseudagrion sp., P. capricornis and Onychothemis sp. were dominant in the
middle station (ISI: 41.2%, 25.9% and 10.9% respectively), and Pseudagrion sp., Onychothemis sp.
and Prodasineura sp. dominated the areas with dense growth of submerged aquatic weeds Hydrilla
sp. in the lower station (ISI: 47.9, 24.5 and 13.8%, respectively). On the basis of the variations in
larval abundance and ISI values, microhabitats differences partly in response to different types of
pollutions entering the water structured the Odonata communities in this river basin. |
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