Impact of riparian land-use patterns on Ephemeroptera community structure in river basins of the southern Western Ghats, India

Abstract

This study analysed the impact of riparian land use in structuring the larval ephemeropteran communities from 25 sites in streams and rivers of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) of the southern end of the Western Ghats, India. A total of twenty-eight species belonging to twenty-four genera of six families were collected across all the sites. Baetidae and Leptophlebiidae were the most numerous and ubiquitous families, comprising eight genera in each family and eleven and nine species, respectively. The physico-chemical parameters and species richness and abundance of mayflies varied across streams and rivers with different riparian land-use types. Species distribution was influenced by the environmental gradients. Canonical Correspondence Analysis revealed a clear separation of the mayfly assemblages along water quality and riparian land-use gradients. The results of this study suggest that Ephemeroptera taxa can be potentially used as sensitive indicators of riparian land use in lotic ecosystems.

Keywords

• Ephemeroptera
• riparian land use
• bioindicators
• KMTR
• Western Ghats