The Structure of Macroinvertebrate Community in Three Streams of the High River Paraná Basin, Brazil: Relationship Bet Ween Environmental Qualit y and Ecological Parameters

Abstract

Bentic macroinvertebrates comprise a great diversity of species and are highly important to monitor the quality of water. A working hypothesis states that a trend exists in which there are low rates in ecological parameters of species diversity in places with low habitat diversity. Current study analyzes the structure of macroinvertebrates assemblage and relates them to the environmental impacts in three streams of the high river Paraná basin in the municipality of Apucarana PR Brazil. Further, 1 x 0.50 m sieves and 3 mm mesh were employed, coupled to a 50-min sample effort at each point, to that they could be identified at family taxonomic level. The relationship between the environmental integrity and ecological parameters between the streams was compared. A total of 243 specimens distributed into 3 phyla, 4 classes, 8 orders and 18 families, were collected. There was a co-relationship in all the streams between ecological parameters and environmental quality, or rather, when environmental quality decreases, there is a proportional reduction in the ecological parameters of diversity and equitability. However, results show that quality and ecological structure of the environment are mainly related to the level of conservation and diversity of the habitats.