Zahra Alivand Darani; Atefeh Chamani
Abstract
Macrobenthos communities are used as the second and third levels of food chain, and can be considered as an index of total production and water quality. This study aimed to investigate the density and abundance of macrobenthos in the Zayandeh-rood River in 2017 and use them to determine the river water ...
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Macrobenthos communities are used as the second and third levels of food chain, and can be considered as an index of total production and water quality. This study aimed to investigate the density and abundance of macrobenthos in the Zayandeh-rood River in 2017 and use them to determine the river water quality. For this purpose, 6 sampling stations were selected completely randomly and sediment samples was collected at each station with three replications in 4 seasons. Benthos identification was performed using binocular stereomicroscope and Benthos identifiers keys. Finally, 9 families and 7 order were identified, among which Monhysteridae, Oligochaeta and Hirudinea had the highest abundance. All seasons and stations are classified as serious organic pollutants based on the ASPT index. According to the EPT index, in spring, water quality was assessed as good. Summer and fall were in poor and winter in very poor quality class. Shannon Weiner index for all seasons is in the moderately pollution class. All of the seasons according to the BMWP index, were in moderately class. Based on BMWP index, stations 1 and 3, the water in poor quality and the other stations were in the moderately quality.
