Development of the HKHbios: a new biotic score to assess the river quality in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya

Ofenböck, Thomas; Moog, Otto; Sharma, Subodh; Korte, Thomas

doi:10.1007/s10750-010-0289-5

Cited by 32 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Its assemblages are also considered as surrogates for the insect community structure in water bodies, being capable of indicating changes in the biological integrity of these ecosystems (Silva et al 2010). This can be proven from the newly developed HKHbios scoring (Ofenböck et al 2010) list for the Hindu Kush Himalayan river system (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Key to the larval stages of common Odonata of Hindu Kush Himalaya, with short notes on habitats and ecology

Nesemann¹,

Shah²,

Shah³

2011

J. Threat. Taxa

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Abstract:The order Odonata is one of the most widely studied groups among insects from the oriental region. They colonize in both stagnant and running water bodies of wide water quality. Hitherto, the existing literature on the Odonata contained numerous publications with coloured figures of adults, helpful for identification. Identification key with figures on larval stages, using their coloration as distinguishing characters are largely missing. The current work attempts to provide an identification key to aquatic larvae of the most common families of Zygoptera, Anisoptera and Anisozygoptera with colour illustrations. The specimens were collected from Nepal and India (northern part). Each family is represented by several examples to demonstrate the range of morphological variability. This key helps determination of aquatic larvae Odonata up to family level without enormous efforts in field and laboratory.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Key to the larval stages of common Odonata of Hindu Kush Himalaya, with short notes on habitats and ecology

Nesemann¹,

Shah²,

Shah³

2011

J. Threat. Taxa

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“…A number of macroinvertebrate-based score systems have been developed in Nepal also (Sharma, 1996;Nesemann, 2009;Ofenböck et al, 2010) and have been used in a number of bioassessment studies of streams (Sharma et al, 2005;Gurung et al, 2016). These organisms have provided consistent results with corresponding stressors present in the water bodies proving these organisms as effective bioindicators of aquatic health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroinvetebrate Assemblages as Indicators of Water Quality of the West Seti River, Bajhang, Nepal

Matangulu¹,

Gurung²,

Prajapati³

et al. 2017

Int. J. Environ.

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Water quality of the West Seti River, a tributary of the Karnali in West Nepal was assessed using macroinvertebrates as bioindicators. The main objective of the study was to assess the ecological water quality of the West Seti River and to generate a baseline data on macroinvertebrate assemblages. The sampling was conducted during December 2015 and a total of 11 sampling sites were selected from the West Seti River and its tributaries. Qualitative samples of macroinvertebrates were collected from different habitats. Selected physico-chemical parameters such as pH and temperature were estimated on-site. Dissolved oxygen (DO) was estimated by Winkler's method. The macroinvertebrate samples were enumerated and identified up to Family level following standard literature. Chi-square test was performed to see whether macroinvertebrate taxa varied significantly along the altitudinal gradient and between the West Seti River and its tributaries. An ecological assessment tool Nepalese Biotic Score/ Average Score Per Taxon (NEPBIOS/ASPT) was applied to assess the water quality of the sampling sites. The pH value ranged from 7.9 to 8.7 indicating the alkaline nature of the river. A total of 1666 individuals belonging to 34 Families and 7 Orders of macro-invertebrates were observed. The highest diversity of the macroinvertebrate taxa was observed at site T5 with nineteen Families whereas the lowest taxa diversity was observed at R3 with only five Families. The variation in macroinvertebrate assemblages between the sub-tropical and temperate zones; and the West Seti River and its tributaries were not significant. NEPBIOS/ASPT revealed a score of Water Quality Class of III-IV at Site R3 indicating that the site was polluted. This site was characterized by the abundance of red Chironomids which are considered as the indicators of organic pollution.

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“…Data indicated that the health of the streams had no differences between seasons. The HKH biotic score (Ofenböck et al 2010), indicated that water quality values were similar across all streams. Here the organisms are assigned a tolerance number from 1-10 pertaining to that group's known sensitivity to organic Mean pH was slightly alkaline, during the postmonsoon (7.20 ± 0.33) and pre-monsoon (7.19 ± 0.42).…”

Section: D) Diversity Evenness and Richness Among The Streamsmentioning

confidence: 99%

<b>Stream macro-invertebrate diversity of the Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan</b>

Wangchuk¹,

Dorji²

2018

J. Threat. Taxa

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Macro-invertebrates form an integral part of aquatic systems, and assessment of macro-invertebrate communities is one of the best ways to monitor the health of a stream. Despite this, stream monitoring of macro-invertebrates has been extremely limited in Bhutan. A study was conducted to generate baseline information on macro-invertebrate diversity in the Phobjikha valley, covering community composition and seasonal variation in diversity during post and pre-monsoon seasons. From a total of 244 units sampled in streams, 50 families from 13 orders were recorded. The dominant order overall was Ephemeroptera (31%), which also dominated the premonsoon assessment (33%), while Trichoptera (39%) dominated the post-monsoon assessment. The pre-monsoon assessment recorded two additional orders, Caenogastropoda and Veneroida. There was no significant difference in diversity between the post-monsoon and pre-monsoon assessments (p˃0.3), but a significant difference in species diversity between seasons was observed in pools and riffles. Physicochemical parameters indicated that pH, electrical conductivity and salinity were within favorable ranges for macro-invertebrates. Further studies of other habitats in different seasons will produce a more comprehensive understanding of macro-invertebrate diversity.Keywords: Environmental variables, macro-invertebrate diversity, pools, post-monsoon, pre-monsoon, riffles, wetland.Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2018 | 10(1): 11126-11146 11127 INTRODUCTIONFreshwater constitutes only 0.01% of the world's water, yet it is host to high percentage of aquatic biodiversity . Macro-invertebrates are vitally important to freshwater ecosystems, converting plant matter and detritus into major food resources for higher trophic levels in aquatic and terrestrial communities (Wallace & Webster 1996;Covich et al. 1999). Their role in decomposition of organic detritus, nutrient cycling, and water purification are crucial for the existence of stream organisms. Aquatic macro-invertebrates also constitute valuable natural resources for economic, cultural, aesthetic, ecological, scientific and educational purposes . Across the globe, about 126,000 freshwater species are reported, and experts have projected the number of species to surpass one million as aquatic biodiversity assessment continues (Darwall 2010). Specifically, over 6,500 species of Odonata (Trueman & Rowe 2008), over 3,141 species of Ephemeroptera (Truffer et al. 2003), over 3,400 species of Plecoptera (Yang & Yang 2006), and 12,627 species of Trichoptera (Moor & Ivanov 2008) are known. From a total of 70,000 known species of Mollusca (Haszprunar 2001) 5,000 are freshwater species, of which 4,000 are Gastropoda and 1,000 are Bivalvia (Balian et al. 2008).Bhutan is in the early stages of documenting freshwater biodiversity Dorji 2014;Gurung & Thoni 2015). Since 2004 documentation of freshwater biodiversity, particularly macroinvertebrates, was initiated by the National Environment Commission (NEC) in coll...

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Development of the HKHbios: a new biotic score to assess the river quality in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya

Cited by 32 publications

References 23 publications

Key to the larval stages of common Odonata of Hindu Kush Himalaya, with short notes on habitats and ecology

Key to the larval stages of common Odonata of Hindu Kush Himalaya, with short notes on habitats and ecology

Macroinvetebrate Assemblages as Indicators of Water Quality of the West Seti River, Bajhang, Nepal

<b>Stream macro-invertebrate diversity of the Phobjikha Valley, Bhutan</b>

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