Ecological quality assessment of Kor River in Fars Province using macroinvertebrates indices

Abstract

Modifications in the ecological structure of macroinvertebrate communities could reflect changes in environmental conditions. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to identify macroinvertebrate assemblage and evaluating the efficiency of single-criterion and multicriteria indices for determining the ecological health of water quality of the Bakhtegan watershed located in the Eghlid city of Iran. A Surber sampler was used to sample eight sites along the river route. Physicochemical parameters were measured in each site including BOD, COD, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, ammonia and fecal coliform in the laboratory and temperature, pH, EC, DO and hardness at the site of sampling. A total of 8161 macroinvertebrates were identified in 14 orders and 24 families recognized in the studied region and its highest frequency belonged to Gammaridae family (66%). Spearman correlation coefficient (r = 0.81) indicated that the BMWP/ASPT bioindex has a higher performance than other indicators for Bakhtegan area. The results of this study have shown no significant difference between control and non-control sites (Sig. 0.05). It was found that Gammaridae was the dominant major taxon in all sampling sites. Since the river’s water is used for farming and also drinking, it is necessary for local managers to be more sensitive to the conditions of the region and try to increase public awareness and other researches to improve the ecological health quality.