Water Quality Analysis and Biomonitoring Potential of Aquatic Insects in the Selected Streams of Munnar, Kerala Sonaimuthu K1,2,4,*, Muralikrishnan S1,2,4, Muthukatturaja M5, Balasubramanian C2, Balachandran C1,3, Nagendran N Arun1,2,4 1National Centre of Excellence (Ministry of Human Resource Development) 2Department of Zoology, Thiagarajar College, Madurai625009, Tamil Nadu, India 3Department of Biotechnology, Thiagarajar College, Madurai625009, Tamil Nadu, India 4Madurai Kamaraj University, Palkalai Nagar, Madurai625021, Tamil Nadu, India 5Department of Zoology, NMSS Vellaichamy Nadar College, Nagamalai, Madurai625019, Tamil Nadu, India *Email: sonaimuthuka@gmail.com (corresponding author): ORCID ID 0000-0003-0269-8900
Online Published on 31 August, 2024. Abstract A total of 2,565 individuals of aquatic macroinvertebrates belonging to 27 genera, 18 families and seven orders were recorded from four streams of Munnar. Ephemeroptera was found to be the most dominant and diverse order. The Shannon and Simpson diversity indices were high in Suryanelli and low in Sivanmalai streams. The Evenness and Margalef indices were maximum in Periyavarai and Suryanelli streams and minimum in Sivanmalai stream. Water quality of the selected streams were analyzed with regard to the biotic indices. The functional feeding group (FFG) analysis revealed filter feeders as dominant group among FFGs in Munnar streams. The relationship between the water chemistry variables and aquatic macroinvertebrate community were discussed with canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Top Keywords Aquatic macroinvertebrate, CCA, Functional feeding group, Ephemeroptera, Munnar, Stream, Diversity indices, Dominant, Biotic indices, Water quality, Filter feeders. Top |