Impact of riparian land-use patterns on Ephemeroptera community structure in river basins of the southern Western Ghats, India

Abstract

Key-words: Ephemeroptera, riparian land use, bioindicators, KMTR, Western GhatsThis study analysed the impact of riparian land use in structuring the larval ephemeropteran communities from 25 sites in streams and rivers of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) of the southern end of the Western Ghats, India. A total of twenty-eight species belonging to twentyfour genera of six families were collected across all the sites. Baetidae and Leptophlebiidae were the most numerous and ubiquitous families, comprising eight genera in each family and eleven and nine species, respectively. The physico-chemical parameters and species richness and abundance of mayflies varied across streams and rivers with different riparian land-use types. Species distribution was influenced by the environmental gradients. Canonical Correspondence Analysis revealed a clear separation of the mayfly assemblages along water quality and riparian landuse gradients. The results of this study suggest that Ephemeroptera taxa can be potentially used as sensitive indicators of riparian land use in lotic ecosystems. RÉSUMÉImpact des modes d'utilisation des terres riveraines sur la structure de la communauté d'éphéméroptères dans les bassins hydrographiques des Ghâts occidentaux du sud, Inde

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“…Change in community structure is mainly due to changes in the geomorphology and the associated destruction of in-stream physical habitats. The relatively more abundance or dominance of order Hemiptera in the stream could be due to their modified body structure [33]. [34].…”

The effects of environmental integrity on the diversity of mayflies, Leptophlebiidae (Ephemeroptera), in tropical streams of the Brazilian Cerrado

“…Leptoblebiids have also been shown to be good indicators in other parts of the world. In Southern China, the occurrence and abundance of these mayflies decreased as water quality declined (Xu et al 2014), while in India, these insects were absent from sites at which the riparian vegetation had been modified for the establishment of plantations (Selvakumar et al, 2014), while species richness was much lower in Southwestern Australia, were climatic conditions were less favorable (Bunn and Davies, 1990).…”

DNA barcoding of mayflies (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) from South India

“…They constitute an important part of the food chain, mainly consuming primary producers such as algae and plants, and as a food source for vertebrate predators like fish. They are excellent biological indicators of water quality and habitat quality (Sivaramakrishnan et al 1996;Buffagni 1997;Selvakumar et al 2014). They are ideal objects for integrated phylogenetic, biogeographic and phylogeographic studies, being endowed with several archaic traits in all life stages along with rather weak dispersal powers.…”

“…1996 ; Buffagni 1997 ; Selvakumar et al. 2014 ). They are ideal objects for integrated phylogenetic, biogeographic and phylogeographic studies, being endowed with several archaic traits in all life stages along with rather weak dispersal powers.…”