Characteristic of macroinvertebrates abundance in cascade-pond system at Universitas Indonesia Campus, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Catchment area of cascade-pond system at Universitas Indonesia (UI) campus is an area with high population density. The high population density has led to increasing impervious cover since it has to provide the housing needs. Increasing of impervious cover affected stream quality in the catchment area. The state of aquatic system quality can be assessed among others using biotic index and observed macroinvertebrates distribution. The management of UI campus plans to reduce the negative effect of decreasing the aquatic system quality by conducting audit the health state of cascade-pond system. The objective of this study is to examine the characteristics of macroinvertebrates abundance at cascade-pond system at UI campus. Macroinvertebrates are commonly used as indicator of pollution level at aquatic system. Sampling is conducted using biomonitoring method, and is carried out at cascade-pond system, which consisted of six ponds, by two times repetitions. The identification of any individual macroinvertebrates caught during the sampling is conducted in the laboratory. The characteristics of macroinvertebrates were assessed based on Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT) Index dan Family Biotic Index (FBI).The results indicates that there is a tendency of improving diversity of macroinvertebrate in the downstream direction of the cascade-pond system.