Abstract

WALTEROS RODRIGUEZ, Jeymmy Milena  and  CASTANO ROJAS, Juan Mauricio. Composition and functional aspects of the aquatic macroinvertebrates present in a headwaters microbasin in the Andes of Risaralda, Colombia. Rev. acad. colomb. cienc. exact. fis. nat. [online]. 2020, vol.44, n.171, pp.581-592.  Epub June 14, 2021. ISSN 0370-3908.  https://doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.1085.

Aquatic macroinvertebrates play a critical ecological role in aquatic ecosystems because they allow understanding the dynamics of the energy and nutrient flow, as well as the existing trophic relationships. However, there are few studies about the structure and composition of aquatic macroinvertebrates in Andean headwaters streams. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of microhabitat heterogeneity on the taxa richness and functional diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates in the Dali Creek, a low order creek in the Central Andes of Colombia. From 2012 to 2016, surveys were conducted twice a year in seven sampling reaches where we evaluated the fluvial habitat index and sampled its dominant microhabitats for aquatic macroinvertebrates. We collected 34,144 organisms grouped in 147 taxa that were classified into six functional groups, with collector and litter fragmenter groups being the most abundant. The rocky substrate was the microhabitat with the highest diversity. The difference in the taxa richness between microhabitats was statistically significant (p<0.05) and Pearson's correlation between taxa richness and the fluvial habitat index of the sampled reaches was positive (r2=0.923). Our results showed that even in headwaters, the heterogeneity of the reaches and microhabitats determines the composition and abundance of aquatic macroinvertebrates.

Keywords : Aquatic invertebrates; Functional feeding groups; Fluvial heterogeneity; Dalí Creek; Andean streams.

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