Comparison of macrobenthos in braided and channelized sectors of the Drôme River, France

Abstract

AbstractThe influence of braided pattern on macrobenthic communities was studied in the Lower Drǒme River (France). The qualitative differences between embanked and braided sections are weak. The sessile species (for example Psychomyia pusilla) are more frequent in the embanked section whereas the drifting species (for example Baetis fuscatus) are more frequent in the braided section. The density of macroinvertebrates in the latter, especially in the secondary channels, is higher than in the embanked section, but the diversity remains low because the location of the channels changes at each extreme flood.