Checklist of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Taxa Along Different Riparian Land Use Types in Alaknanda River Catchment of the Central Himalaya, Uttarakhand (India)

Abstract

A checklist of benthic macroinvertebrates recorded at 08 different riparian land use (RLU) types in Alaknanda river catchment (ARC) in the Central Himalaya (India) is provided here. Among 77 taxa recorded, 73 insect genera belonged to 09 orders and 52 families at different RLU types. Majorities were nymphs and larvae of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Odonata, Hemiptera, Megaloptera and Diptera. The highest number of insect taxa (50) was recorded from Dense Mixed Forest; whereas, the lowest (27) was recorded from barren site i.e., Montane Barren. Also, the forested site had most number of common taxa (25). Benthic macroinvertebrates at Chir Pine Forest serves as a link between Dense Mixed Forest and Open Mixed Forest. Agricultural sites had 36 taxa in common. Interestingly the agricultural sites share 24 taxa with the forested sites. Overall 13 benthic insect taxa were ubiquitous in ARC, while 15 were rare, confined to a single site.