Abstract
Indiscriminate dumping of wastes into rivers without control measures is widely practiced in the developing nations of the World as it is observed in River Benue at Makurdi. To ascertain the health status and integrity of River Benue at Makurdi, water samples and sediments were collected monthly from five different locations on the shoreline of the river for a period of two years (July 2011-June 2013). The physico-chemical quality of the water samples were examined using standard methods. The sediments were examined for the presence and absence of macro benthic fauna. The mean values were generally within the WHO and the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality accepted maximum limit except for colour and turbidity. The result of ANOVA for all the parameters was significant during the seasons (PE‚0.05), except for total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS) and temperature (PEƒ0.05). Across the locations temperature, bicarbonate, nitrate, sulphate, phosphate and copper were not significant (ANOVA, PEƒ0.05). The result of the sediments showed that a total of 4,451 macro benthic fauna individuals comprising of 4 phyla and 21 taxa were obtained. Among this benthic fauna group, Athropoda had the highest population of 90.15%, Annelid 4.74%, Mollusca 3.39% and Platyhelminthes 1.7%. A significant relationship at some instances was noticed between benthic fauna group and some environmental variables indicating relationship between benthos and hydrochemistry of River Benue. It is recommended that the discharge of effluents and other waste into the River Benue should be controlled and enforced. Key words: River Benue, physico-chemical, macro benthic fauna, relationship.
Highlights
The health of the ecosystem is determined by the taxanomic composition of the community as well as its diversity (Idowu and Ugwumba, 2005)
Correlation studies of benthic fauna diversity with environmental variables revealed that relationship between benthic fauna and physico-chemical parameters are highly complex and mostly controlled by unidentified interaction of different factors.All the groups (Arthropoda, Annelida, Mollusca and Platyhelminths) of benthic fauna were noticed to correlate positively with certain Environmental parameters, while other benthic fauna correlated negatively with environmental parameters
No correlation was observed between the environmental parameters and Annelida at Stations I and II throughout the period
Summary
The health of the ecosystem is determined by the taxanomic composition of the community as well as its diversity (Idowu and Ugwumba, 2005). Benthic macro fauna are those organisms that live on or inside the deposit at the bottom of a water body (Barnes and Hughes, 1988; Idowu and Ugwumba, 2005).
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