Department of Biology

Permanent URI for this collection

https://bdears.busitema.ac.ug/handle/123456789/1408

Browse

Browsing Department of Biology by Author "Kiplimo, Joshua"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Macroinvertebrates as indicators of ecosystem health and disturbance, a case study of okuta seasonal stream, kisoko sub-county
    (Busitema University, 2024) Kiplimo, Joshua
    Aquatic macroinvertebrates perform an important role in response to a variety of environmental conditions of streams and may be used as bio-indicators for ecosystem health and disturbance (Sumudumali, et al., 2021). In the past, biological communities like plankton, periphyton, microphytobenthos, macro benthos, aquatic macrophytes, fishes among others have been used for assessment of water quality of streams, but now the use of macroinvertebrates has become the most commonly used method because it is cheaper and takes less time in comparison with other methods and they can easily be seen with our naked eyes(Obubu, et al., 2021). The study will involve sampling, pre-identification, identification of macroinvertebrates and finding out the abundance of macroinvertebrates of different taxonomic groups and carrying out physical chemical analysis of samples from the selected locations. The most common macroinvertebrates found in fresh water streams belong to the orders like Ephemeroptera, Diptera, Mollusca, Plecoptera, Heteroptera, Trichoptera, Odonata, oligochaetes among others (Mir, Arafat, & Bakhtiyar, et al., 2021). The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of Okuta seasonal stream using macroinvertebrates as indicators of ecosystem health and disturbance, three (3) sites were selected and from each site the physical chemical parameters including PH, temperature, electrical conductivity and dissolved oxygen the three sites were; forested area, rice growing site and animal rearing site. From the results obtained, forested area (site one) was found to have a more safer water quality as compared to the other two because it recorded a high value of dissolved oxygen of 1.28 and 1.27. Site two had the highest number of macroinvertebrates 11 all from one family Hirundinidae followed by site two with 9 and site three had the least (3). The macroinvertebrates which were collected from the three sites at Okuta seasonal stream include the following families: Canidae, Teleganodidae, Heptagenilidae, Baetidae, Platycnidae Hirundinidae and Dytiscidae. Sensitive species, such as certain mayflies, caddisflies, and stoneflies, thrive in clean water conditions, while tolerant species, such as some chironomids and oligochaetes can persist in more disturbed environments, absence of these groups of macroinvertebrates indicates less pollution in a water body.