Benthic Macroinvertebrate Fauna of Some High-Altitude Lakes in the Aladağlar Mountains (Niğde)

Abstract

This study was carried out in July and August 2019 as a preliminary study to determine the benthic macroinvertebrate fauna of Karagöl, Çömçe and Yıldız Lakes, which are high-altitude lakes in the Aladağlar mountains. As a result of the examination of the collected macrobenthic fauna, seven species belonging to three families from three orders (Diptera, Coleoptera and Trichoptera) in Karagöl Lake, four species belonging to three families from two orders (Diptera, Haplotaxida) in Çömçe Lake, and five species belonging to three families from three orders (Diptera, Trichoptera, Haplotaxida) in Yıldız Lake were determined. The taxa detected is a new record for the studied lakes. Shannon-Weaver diversity (H) and Shannon-Evenness density (EH) indices were applied in order to determine the species richness of the lakes and the density relationships among the species, respectively. Accordingly, the highest diversity was observed in Çömçe Lake with a value of 1.18, followed by Karagöl Lake, and Yıldız Lake with values of 0.87 and 0.83, respectively. While the most balanced distribution was observed in Çömçe Lake with a value of 0.81, this was followed by Yıldız Lake and Karagöl Lake, with values of 0.46 and 0.34, respectively. In order to determine the similarities between the stations according to the distribution of the detected taxa, a two-way clustering analysis based on the Bray-Curtis similarity index was applied. Accordingly, while the highest similarity was calculated between Karagöl Lake and Yıldız Lake, it was determined that there was no similarity between Yıldız Lake and Çömçe Lake.