Characterization and diversity of macroinvertebrates of the Bouhamdane Stream (northeast of Algeria)

Abstract

Freshwaters are among the most threatened ecosystems, particularly in North Africa where urbanization and climate change are exerting an important pressure on aquatic fauna. Long-term investigation of macroinvertebrates is one of the best ways of tracking and understanding the influence of environmental and anthropogenic pressures on community dynamics. In this study, we focus on determining the community structure and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates as well as the state of aquatic physicochemical parameters in the Bouhamdane Stream, near the outlet of Bouhamdane dam, Seybouse watershed, north-eastern Algeria. We carried out a bi-monthly sampling of macroinvertebrates and nine water physicochemical parameters from September 2017 to July 2018 at three sites. Results show that the collected macroinvertebrates (6756 individuals) belong to 15 families and 12 orders. The abundance of the macrofauna consisted of 88.19% crustaceans, 7.74% insects, 3.7% molluscs and 0.16% annelids. Physicochemical analyzes (depth, turbidity, pH, dissolved O2, temperature, salinity, and conductivity) showed variability among sites. The families of Gammaridae and Baetidae were the most frequent and the most abundant on all the stations. The results indicate that aquatic macroinvertebrates constitute good indicators of the biological quality of water. This study shows that even with the occurrence of regular dam water discharge, the macroinvertebrate community is still able to persist either through adaptation to high water velocity or high colonization rate.