Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26
September 2019 | 11(12): 14511–14517
The
distributional pattern of benthic macroinvertebrates in a spring-fed foothill
tributary of the Ganga River, western Himalaya, India
Vijay Prakash Semwal
1 & Asheesh Shivam
Mishra 2
1 Department of
Zoology, Government Post Graduate College New Tehri, Tehri Garhwal,
Uttarakhand 249001, India.
2 Department of
Zoology, Nehru Gram Bharati (Deemed to be University) Prayagraj,
Uttar Pradesh 221505, India.
1 vpsemwal75@gmail.com,
2 shivam_a2000@yahoo.co.in (corresponding author)
Abstract: Benthic macroinvertebrates play important ecosystem
roles in the cycling and outflow of nutrients.
The benthos transforms organic detritus from sedimentary storage into
dissolved nutrients that can be mixed into overlying waters and used by rooted
plants (macrophytes) and algae (phytoplankton) to enhance primary productivity. This study examined the distribution pattern
of benthic macroinvertebrates in a lesser Himalayan foothill stream from the
headwaters (2,200m) to mouth (375m).
Five stations (S1 to S5) were established along the 43-km course of the
stream. Samples were collected at
bi-monthly intervals from January to December 2009. The total density of the benthic
macroinvertebrate community increased with decreasing altitude and differed
significantly among stations. Dominant orders were Diptera
at S1 (Simulidae, 27%) & S5 (Chironomidae
24%), Trichoptera at S2 (Limnephilidae
16%) & S3 (Hydropsychidae 9.9%), and
Ephemeroptera (Heptageniidae 9.2%) at S4. Principal component analysis revealed that
the characteristic taxa were Simulidae at S1, Limnephildae at S2, Hydropsychiidae,
Rhyacophilidae, Tipulidae, Perlodidae, Dryopidae & Notonectidae at S3, Heptageniidae
at S4, and Chironomidae, Siphlonuridae,
& Agrionidae at S5. Cluster analysis showed one large cluster
comprising S1 and S2 as sub-groups with resemblance to S3-S4, and S5 as an
outlier. The similarity between the
stations S3-S4 was attributed to similar land-use pattern (agriculture) and
stream order (II Order), while S1 and S2 were slightly similar due to partial similar
forest type (oak forest at S1, pine-oak forest at S2) and stream order. At S5, however, the considerable change in
forest type (mixed forest) land-use and stream order (III Order) caused S5 as
an outlier in cluster. The variations in
the abundant and characteristics taxon at different stations were attributed to
change in substratum and land-use patterns.
Keywords: Ganga, lesser Himalaya, altitudinal variation,
dominants, Diptera, Trichoptera.
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4648.11.12.14511-14517
|
ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:275D813E-ECB2-4D8A-9C6B-CCF91CF3B564
Editor: Tomáš Ditrich,
University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. Date
of publication: 26 September 2019 (online & print)
Manuscript details: #4648 | Received 21 October 2018
| Final received 09 July 2019 | Finally accepted 15 August 2019
Citation: Semwal, V.P. & A.S. Mishra (2019). The distributional pattern of benthic macroinvertebrates in a spring-fed
foothill tributary of the Ganga River, western Himalaya, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(12): 14511–14517. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4648.11.12.14511-14517
Copyright: © Semwal & Mishra 2019. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by adequate credit to the author(s)
and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing
interests.
Author details: Dr. Vijay Prakash Semwal, Assistant Professor, Major contributions: Research
on Benthic macroinvertebrate fauna in the Himalayan rivers/streams. Dr. Asheesh Shivam Mishra,
Assistant Professor & Head, performing research on distribution and
population ecology of diatom, benthic macroinvertebrate and fish in Central
Highlands & Himalayan rivers/streams. Expertise on Environmental Flow
studies on the river Ganga and its tributaries, Environmental Impact Assessment
(HEP).
Author
contribution: VPS data
collection from the study area & identify the taxa. ASM worked on
data analysis using various softwares and manuscript writing, graphs, and map
preparation.
Acknowledgements:
The authors acknowledge the
academic support granted by Prof. H.R. Singh, former Vice Chancellor,
University of Allahabad, and former professor & head Prof. J.P. Bhatt,
Department of Zoology & Biotechnology, H.N.B. Garhwal
University, Srinagar, Uttarakhand, India.
INTRODUCTION
Benthic macroinvertebrates are important components of
aquatic communities, where they can be found in sediment and accumulated
leaves, and in association with macrophytes between rocks, interacting with a
wide range of environmental conditions (Moretti & Callisto
2005; Würdig et al. 2007). Community species distributions vary with water characteristics (Pereira
& De Luca 2003; Silveira et al. 2006).
Benthic organisms are sensitive to
the habitat characteristics and substratum (Buss et al. 2004; Mishra & Nautiyal 2016), water temperature (Camargo & Voelz 1998; Mishra & Nautiyal
2011), pH (Sandin & Johnson 2004), electrical
conductivity (Buss et al. 2002), riparian vegetation (Silveira et al. 2006),
sedimentation (Smith & Lamp 2008), and land-use (Collier et al. 2000; Kratzer et al. 2006; Nautiyal et
al. 2017). Thus they can be used as
indicators of the functional status of rivers (Jiang et al. 2011; Mishra & Nautiyal 2013a).
In the lesser Himalayan region, benthic
macroinvertebrates have been investigated in glacier and spring fed
rivers/streams (Rundle et al. 1993; Ormerod et al. 1994; Singh et al. 1994; Nautiyal 1997; Julka et al. 1999;
Kannel et al. 2007; Nesemann
et al. 2011; Mishra et al. 2013c; Nautiyal et al.
2013; Nautiyal & Mishra 2014). Few studies have examined the foothill1
region of western Himalaya, where streams often have springs as their
source. We studied a spring-fed stream
in the foothill region (Fig. 1a) that flows into the Ganga at Shivpuri, 15km
upstream of Rishikesh. The rapids between
Shivpuri and Rishikesh are a popular water-rafting zone, and the stream is
under severe anthropogenic stress owing to extensive use of its banks for night
camping. In the middle and upper reaches
stress comes from water extraction for agriculture. Our study of benthic macroinvertebrate fauna
is intended to help detect environmental changes in the stream due to human
activity in the vicinity.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study Area
Most foothill streams that discharge into the Ganga
between Shivpuri and Rishikesh are steep and short, and many dry up in
summer. Hiyunl
Nadi is a perennial stream with a 43km course that
was chosen as a representative of a foothill stream. There are a number of streams of moderate
length but in the Doon Valley and not the hills
except for Song that drains eastern Doons. The Kho is one such like Hiyunl
but not of this kind. The Hiyunl flows down from an
elevation of 2,400m north-west direction and meets the Ganga River at
375m. By virtue of this it exhibits a
rapid transition from alpine to sub-tropical conditions. Bemunda Gad, Pilri Gad, and Chamol Gad are its
prominent tributaries. The Hiyunl basin lies between 30.258–30.440 0N and
78.708–75.084 0E, covering an area of 167.50km2 (Table 1,
Fig. 1b) that is rich in limestone (Kumar et al. 2017). There
is some confusion regarding its name: Henval in
headwaters (toposheet 53 J/7; https://zenodo.org/record/1216911) and Hiyunl in its lower stretch (toposheet 53 J/8; https://zenodo.org/record/1216913). Some studies carried out on the Ganga River
between Devprayag and Haridwar have conveniently
called it Henval, and another local name is Huinl (NH 44-5, Series U502).
Sampling
Five stations were selected in the stream on the basis
of variation in land-use type (forest and/or agriculture). Sampling was performed at bi-monthly
intervals from January 2010 to December 2010 (Table 1). Samples were taken from
area of 0.09m2 with respect to habitat type (20 samples per
station). The standard methods for sampling
(Singh & Nautiyal 1990; Nautiyal
& Mishra 2013b ) and identification (Burks 1953; Pennak
1953; Edmunds et al. 1976) were adopted.
Family level counts were performed to obtain abundance (as %).
Significant difference in density between stations was determined using the Mann–Whitney (U) test, and among the stations
using the Kruskal–Wallis (H) test (PAST software http://nhm2.uio.no/norlex/past). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used
to determine the characteristic taxa at each station (CANOCO ver 4.5; ter Braak
& Smilauer 2002).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Physicochemical characteristics varied among
stations. The air (4–42oC)
and water temperature (3–25oC) increased from S1 to S5 as did
dissolved oxygen (7.4–12.5 mgl-1), pH (6.8–7.3), conductivity (80–350
µS-1), and current velocity (0.1–0.48msec-1).
The total mean density of macroinvertebrates increased
from S1 to S5, with significant differences
observed between successive stations (Table 1). Singh & Nautiyal
(1990) suggested that density increased in the mouth zone of the Himalayan
river Bhagirathi. In central Indian
rivers, the density also increased in the mouth zone of Paisuni
River (Mishra & Nautiyal 2011) but decreased in
Tons (Mishra & Nautiyal 2013b). The sudden decline of density at S4, however,
was attributed to the dumping of waste materials into the river from road
construction, which caused habitat loss and fragmentation resulting in a
decline in the benthic macroinvertebrate community. The decline is also attributed to anthropogenic
activity such as extraction of water for agriculture (Mishra & Nautiyal 2013b).
Taxonomic composition
Diptera (81%) was dominant at S1, Trichoptera
at S2 (75%), S3 (80.7%) and S4 (54.5%).
At S5 Ephemeroptera (69.3%) was dominant. The composition of other taxa varied at each
station (Table 2). Diptera,
Trichoptera and Ephemeroptera dominated the
assemblages from S1 to S5. Odonates and annelids exhibited a similar profile, though
their share was low in the community. Diptera declined abruptly from S1 to S2, and increased from
S3 to S5. The communities differed
structurally primarily on account of proximity to a snow line of approximately
150km aerial length, with high gradients in mountain streams. At the family level, Simulidae
was the most abundant taxon at S1 followed by Limnephilidae,
while Limnephilidae and Hydropsychidae
were dominant at S2 and S3, respectively.
Heptageniidae and Chironomidae
were dominant at S4 and S5, respectively (Fig. 2). The share of Simulidae
decreased from S1 to S5, while Chironomidae increased
from S1 to S5. Trichopterans were
dominant in the headwater section of the Garhwal
Himalayan spring-fed streams (Nautiyal et al. 2015)
and in headwater zone of Vindhyan spring-fed river Paisuni (Mishra & Nautiyal
2011). In the spring-fed Himalayan
streams, Ephemeroptera was dominant taxon in the Khanda Gad (Kumar 1991) and
the Gaula in the Kumaun
region (Sunder 1997).
The benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages also varied
at S1 (Simulidae-Limnephilidae), S2 (Limnephilidae-Hydropsychidae), S3 (Hydropsychidae-Baetidae),
S4 (Heptageniidae-Hydropsychidae), and S5 (Chironomidae-Heptageniidae). This variation was attributed mainly to
substratum, forest type and altitude. Simuliade was dominant in Oak forest at S1 while Limnephilidae was dominant in Pine-Oak forest at S2 (Table
1). Nautiyal
et al. (2015) also observed similar pattern in the streams/rivers of
Uttarakhand Himalaya. Corkum (1992) and Sivaramakrishnan
(2005) also reported the impact of forest type on assemblage pattern. The dominance of Hydropsychidae,
Heptageniidae, and Chironomidae
at S3, S4, S5, respectively, indicated impact of agricultural land-use and
substratum, also evident in central Highlands rivers (Mishra & Nautiyal 2013b, 2016).
Functionally, the river continuum concept (Vannote et al. 1980) also supports the distribution pattern
of invertebrate fauna, as predators (Simulidae) were
abundant at S1, followed by collectors at S2 (Limnephilidae)
and S3 (Hydropsychidae), scrappers (Heptageniidae) at S4, and collectors (Chironomidae)
at S5.
Cluster analysis revealed highest similarity between
S3 and S4 as compared to other stations as both the stations were functionally
similar (gathering collectors) because of common land-use pattern (agriculture)
and stream order (Table 1). The distance
between these two stations was c. 8km.
These two stations were more similar to S2 and then S1. S5 was noticeably different from all of them
(Fig. 3). The similarity among the
stations in cluster analysis is also evident in the PCA (Fig. 4) as the circle
of S2, S3 and S4 were close to each other and closer to S1 rather than S5.
Characteristic taxa: principal component analysis
(PCA)
The eigen values for PCA axis 1 (λ1=0.501)
and 2 (λ2=0.293) explained cumulative variance in taxonomic
composition and taxon-environmental relationships in the stream and caused
5.01% and 29.3% variation in the taxon-site
relationship, respectively. The
characteristic benthic macroinvertebrate taxa differed at S1, S2, S3, S4 and
S5, Simulidae was characteristic taxa at S1, while Limnephildae taxa at S2.
Hydropsychiidae, Rhyacophilidae,
Tipulidae, Perlodidae, Dryopidae, and Notonectidae were
characteristic at S3. Heptageniidae was characteristics at S4, while Chironomidae, Siphlonuridae, and Agrionidae were characteristic taxa at S5 (Fig. 3). Functionally, filtering collector was
dominant at S1, shredder at S2, gathering collectors-predators at S3, scraper
at S4, and gathering collectors-predators at S5.
The variation in the characteristic taxa at S1, S2,
S3, S4, and S5 was attributed to difference in substrate heterogeneity (Table
1) and forest type (S1—oak forest, S2—oak-pine forest, S5—mixed forest). The land-use type (agriculture), however, was
similar at S3 and S4. Functionally, the
stream was heterotrophic as the gathering and filtering collectors
prevailed, attributed to presence of
fine particulate organic matter (FPOM) from agricultural land in the lower
section of the stream as also observed in the central Indian rivers (Mishra
& Nautiyal 2013a). Agriculture is both extensive and intensive
in this lower stretch of the stream and anthropogenic influences hence become a
prominent factor because of fertilizer and other inputs. The impact of agriculture and habitation was
also observed on the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrate fauna in
Himalayan rivers (Mishra et al. 2013; Nautiyal et al.
2015) and central Indian rivers (Mishra & Nautiyal
2013a). Vannote
et al. (1980) suggested that the longitudinal or continuum models predict that
invertebrate assemblages will change along the length of rivers as evident in
the present study.
CONCLUSION
The present study indicated that the mean density of
benthic macroinvertebrates increased along the stream (except S4), and differed
significantly between and among the stations.
The taxonomic composition and function of invertebrate fauna varied
along the stream length indicated the impact of substrate heterogeneity and
land-use type. At some stations,
however, the functional composition was observed to be similar with other
stations. Thus, the present study indicated the variations in the taxa along
the stream.
Table 1. Geographical co-ordinates of the sampling
station in different forest types in H Hiyunl Stream
(nadi). Total
density (mean, SE) at different stations in Henwal
River. Density is calculated from 15
quadrants data at each station.
Kruskal-Wallis test (H-test) and Mann-Whitney tests (U-test) determined
significant differences in mean densities (indiv. m-2)
among and between the stations in the Hiyunl Stream.
Henwal
Station |
Khuret (S1) |
Kurialgaon (S2) |
Nagani (S3) |
Jajal (S4) |
Shivpuri
(S5) |
Forest |
Oak Forest |
Pine-Oak
Forest |
Agriculture |
Agriculture |
Mixed
Forest |
Stream
Order |
I |
II |
III |
III |
III |
Distance
from Source (Km) |
6 |
11 |
21 |
29 |
43 |
Latitude
(ON) |
30.390 |
30.356 |
30.320 |
30.304 |
30.137 |
Longitude
(OE) |
78.325 |
78.336 |
78.325 |
78.344 |
78.391 |
Altitude
(m) |
2,200 |
1,571 |
1,400 |
1,200 |
375 |
Substrate
type |
C,P,PMB, St |
LMB |
C,PMB,St |
LMB,C,P,G,St |
C, P,G,St |
Total
Mean Density ±SE (Indiv.m-2) |
542.36±
15.18 |
617.49±
15.31 |
649.62±
16.80 |
588.07 ±19.66 |
754.54±
39.88 |
Final
p value (U-test) |
S1-S2 0.003653 |
S2-S3 0.06448 |
S3-S4 0.02122 |
S4-S5 =0.0004915 |
S1-S5= 2.3E-05 |
Final
p value (H-test) |
S1-S5=2.312E-06 |
C—Cobble | P—Pebble | PMB—Prismatic maturing boulder |
LMB—Large maturing boulder | G—Gravel | St—Silt.
Table 2. Percentage composition of benthic
macroinvertebrate community in Hiyunl Stream.
Station |
E |
T |
D |
P |
C |
O |
N |
L |
M |
S1 |
3.3 |
5.27 |
81.43 |
5.0 |
2.0 |
00 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
00 |
S2 |
11.05 |
75.00 |
10.52 |
3.43 |
00 |
00 |
00 |
00 |
00 |
S3 |
6.63 |
80.79 |
3.58 |
00 |
4.0 |
5.0 |
00 |
00 |
00 |
S4 |
18.79 |
54.51 |
20.69 |
00 |
3.5 |
1.5 |
1.1 |
00 |
00 |
S5 |
69.29 |
6.29 |
22.85 |
00 |
00 |
00 |
00 |
00 |
1.57 |
E—Ephemeroptera | T—Trichoptera
| O—Odonata | L—Lepidoptera | D—Diptera | P—Plecoptera | C—Coleoptera | N—Neuroptera |
M—Mollusca.
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Internet Resources
https://zenodo.org/record/1216911#.XQdBErz7S01.
Publication date: June 7, 1965. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1216911
https://zenodo.org/record/1216913#.XQdAWLz7S00.
Publication date: June 6, 1967. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1216913