Abstract
The Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) community structure and the specific sensitivity of certain EPT genera were found to be influenced by water parameters in the rivers of Gunung Jerai Forest Reserve (GJFR) in the north of peninsular Malaysia. The scores of EPT taxa richness of >10 in all rivers indicated all rivers’ habitats were non-impacted, having good water quality coinciding with Class I and Class II of Malaysian water quality index (WQI) classification of potable water. The abundance of EPT was very high in Teroi River (9,661 individuals) but diversity was lower (22 genera) than Tupah River which was highly diverse (28 genera) but lower in abundance (4,263 individuals). The lowest abundance and moderate diversity was recorded from Batu Hampar River (25 genera). Baetis spp. and Thalerosphyrus spp., Neoperla spp. and Cheumatopsyche spp. were the most common genera found. Classification for all rivers using EPT taxa Richness Index and WQI gave different category of water quality, respectively. The WQI classified Tupah and Batu Hampar rivers into Class II and Teroi River (Class I) was two classes above the classification of the EPT taxa Richness Index.
Highlights
In Asian inland aquatic ecosystem, various factors has threatened biodiversity which are related to human activities (Yule & Yong 2004; Gopal 2005; Dudgeon 2000; 2008)
The presence of EPT species denotes that parameters in the habitat is within the tolerance limit of the species.Apart from Plecoptera, Trichoptera larvae and Ephemeroptera nymphs are good bioindicators of the freshwater quality and ecological changes because most of the genera are only able to survive in rivers or streams with a good quality of water (Chapman 1996; Azrina et al 2006; Suhaila et al 2014; Suhaila & Che Salmah 2014) and their distributions are strongly dictated by their tolerance to a set of environmental factors (Dudgeon 1984)
The result showed that Tupah River recorded the highest EPT taxa Richness index with 28 taxa, followed by Batu Hampar River (25) and Teroi River with 22 taxa (Table 1)
Summary
In Asian inland aquatic ecosystem, various factors has threatened biodiversity which are related to human activities (Yule & Yong 2004; Gopal 2005; Dudgeon 2000; 2008). The presence of EPT species denotes that parameters in the habitat is within the tolerance limit of the species.Apart from Plecoptera, Trichoptera larvae and Ephemeroptera (mayflies) nymphs are good bioindicators of the freshwater quality and ecological changes because most of the genera are only able to survive in rivers or streams with a good quality of water (Chapman 1996; Azrina et al 2006; Suhaila et al 2014; Suhaila & Che Salmah 2014) and their distributions are strongly dictated by their tolerance to a set of environmental factors (Dudgeon 1984)
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