Species abundance patterns of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in polluted streams

• Published in: Annales de limnologie Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 119 - 133
• Main Authors: QU, X.-D, SONG, M.-Y, PARK, Y.-S, OH, Y. N, CHON, T.-S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Toulouse Université Paul Sabatier 2008
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Fresh water ecosystems; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Synecology; Benthic organism; log normal distribution; Species abundance distribution; geometric series; benthic macroinvertebrates; Freshwater environment; Aquatic environment; Pollution; Spatial distribution; Geographic distribution; Benthos; Stream; Invertebrata; Power law; Distribution range; Community; Ecological abundance; Benthic zone
• ISSN: 0003-4088; 2100-000X
• DOI: 10.1051/limn:2008013

Benthic macroinvertebrates collected at seven different streams displaying different pollution levels were used to investigate species abundance patterns in polluted streams. Community response to disturbances in streams was analysed using species abundance distribution (SAD) for benthic macroinvertebrates across different levels of pollution. The slopes of rank abundance were characteristically steeper with decreasing species richness at the polluted sample sites, while the slopes were less steep with higher species richness at the clean or slightly disturbed sample sites. The SADs were broadly fitted to the log normal distribution in benthic macroinvertebrate communities across different levels of pollution. A geometric series was partly accepted for the communities at the severely polluted sites where new species could not be readily introduced. A power law was applied to the SADs, and the parameters reflected the states pertaining to the sample sites. The SADs were also efficient in revealing ecological state of communities where physico-chemical indicators could not be easily differentiated for stressful conditions in streams.