FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

HABB

NAME : PEARSON MARINGIRE

REG NUMBER : R192435A

LEVEL : 4.1

MODULE : HABB 411: AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY

LECTURER : DR T DUBE

PRACTICAL WRITE UP 1
TITLE

Rapid Biological assessment of the water quality at Fletcher dam using macro-invertebrates.

ABSTRACT

This practical was done at the Fletcher dam in Gweru. The aim of the practical was to use
macro-invertebrates to determine the quality of water at the Fletcher dam. Sampling was done
on 3 different sites along the edges of the fletcher dam. These sites were classified as site A,
site B and site C. A 1m kick net was used for measuring the sample sites. The water was then
disturbed so as to expose all sediment microorganism. Larger substrate particles were picked
and attached organisms were rubbed off from them. The captured material was then washed
by running clean stream water through the net 2 to 3 times. Clogged materials were discarded
and the samples were recollected. The presence of macro-invertebrates impacts on the quality
in a dam was shown by the presence of certain macro-invertebrates. The results showed high
abundance of macro-invertebrates in site 1 followed by site 2 and site 3 having the lowest.
This is because of different type of the availability of food sources. Trueflyies (Diptera) was
absent in the dam. The quality of the dam is poor because of the few number of macro
invertebrate species that live within the dam which are averagely evenly distributed.

INTRODUCTION

Along with chemical and microbiological monitoring, biological monitoring is a valid way of
determining the quality of a body of water. The study of biological organisms and their
response,abundance and richness is termed Biological monitoring. This can be used to
determine environmental aquatic conditions. One type of biological monitoring is the
biological survey. The biological survey involves collecting, processing, and analyzing
aquatic organisms to determine the health of the biological community in a stream. 
Macroinvertebrates are organisms that are large (macro) enough to be seen with the naked
eye and lack a backbone (invertebrate). They inhabit all types of running waters, from fast
flowing mountain streams to slow moving muddy rivers. Examples of aquatic
macroinvertebrates include insects in their larval or nymph form, crayfish, snails and worms.
Most live part or most of their life cycle attached to submerged rocks, logs, and vegetation
(Bartram et al., 1999). 
Kleynhans (1996) suggested that it is important to evaluate habitat integrity to monitor any
changes which might affect the invertebrates’ distribution. This is easily recognized on
species with more specific habitat preferences and which are more susceptible to certain
types of disturbance. For example, stonefly nymphs are aquatic insects that are very sensitive
to most pollutants fail to survive if a stream's dissolved oxygen falls below a certain level. If
a biological survey shows that no stoneflies are present in a stream that used to support them,
a hypothesis might be that dissolved oxygen has fallen to a point that keeps stoneflies from
reproducing or has killed them outright.  

Habitat, as it relates to the biological survey, is defined as the space occupied by living
organisms. In a stream, habitat for macroinvertebrates includes the rocks, sediments of the
stream bottom, the plants in and around the stream, leaf litter and other decomposing organic
material that falls into the stream, submerged logs, sticks, and woody debris.
Macroinvertebrates need the shelter and food these habitats provide and tend to congregate in
areas that provide the best shelter, the most food, and the most dissolved oxygen. A habitat
survey examines these aspects and rates the stream according to their quality. Monitoring for
water quality conditions such as low dissolved oxygen, temperature, nutrients, and pH helps
identify which pollutants are responsible for impacts to a stream. (Walker, 2006).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sampling of the water was done at three sites along the fletcher dam. Sampling of macro
invertebrates at each site was performed by sweep netting and scoop netting. The benthic
macro invertebrates were disturbed by kicking Samples were collected from three different
sites of the dam. Nets were run through the water so as to trap the macro-invertebrates. The
scoop net was used in areas where there was a lot of vegetation and macro-invertebrates were
scooped into the net and rinsed thoroughly removing excess plant debris carefully but making
sure that the collected macro-invertebrate sample was not lost. The collected sample of
macro- invertebrates were transferred into a tilted white tray for picking .The sample was
further rinsed with water and macro-invertebrates were swept with the water to the lower side
of tilted tray making it easy for picking in clear water. Forceps and plastic pipettes were used
to pick up and suck up the macro-invertebrates. The collected material was then emptied into
white dishes and macro-invertebrates. The collected samples were counted and identified by
use of identification keys. Macro invertebrates that could not be identified were morpho-
typed based on external morphological characters after which morpho-species was assigned a
letter.

Simpson’s diversity Index = Ds=∑ (n1 (n1-1)/N (N-1))

Where:

n1 = number of individuals in species 1,

N=Total number of species in the community.

Shannon Weiner Index.

H’=∑pi ln pi

Pi= proportion of the ith species

ln= natural logarithm

Evenness

E=H’/lnS

S= no. of species in the sample.

EPT organisms

EPT index= the summation of the number of taxa that belong to these three groups
(Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera.

EPT to Total ratio= sum of EPT organisms/Total number of organisms. To get the ratio as a
percentage we multiply by 100.

Percentage Diptera

Percentage Diptera =∑ of true flies/total number of individuals in the sample x 100.

EPT to Diptera ratio = ∑ EPT individuals/∑Diptera individuals.

Results

Table 1: species composition and abundance of macro invertebrates in MSU-Fletcher Dam

Species Site1 Site 2 Site 3 Abundance

Sialidae 9 6 7 22
Pleurocidae 2 7 1 10
Planorbidae 4 3 3 10
Anisoptera 11 7 6 24
Plecoptera 6 4 3 13
Haliplidae 3 0 0 3
Palmonata 0 2 4 6
Hydrachnidia 27 21 19 67
Ephemeroptera 5 6 3 14
Dytiscidae 11 9 13 33
Oxyuidae 4 1 2 7
Trichoptera 3 2 1 6
Abundance 85 68 62 215

A total of 12 macro invertebrate species were identified. The Hydachnidia(watermite) were

the most abundant macro invertebrates, with each site having an abundance of +10. The
Haliplidae Palmonata and Trichoptera were the least abundant macro invertebrates in all
study sites.

Functional feeding groups are:

Feeding groups Species

Predators Sialidae
Hydrachnidia
Dytiscidae
Herbivores Pleurocidae
Planorbidae
Carnivores Anisoptera
Plecoptera
Shredders Haliplidae
 Plamonata
Gatherers Ephemeroptera
Parasitic Oxyuridae
Herbivorous scavengers Trichoptera

Table 2: diversity and evenness values of macro invertebrate diversity

Site1 Site2 Site3

H' (Diversity) 0.98 0.91 0.87
E (Evenness) 0.51 0.5 0.49
Ds (Simpson diversity) 0.15 0.14 0.16

The sites selected have an average diversity of macro invertebrates as calculated by the
Shannon-Weiner Index. However, evenness of macro invertebrate species in Site 1, Sites 2
and 3 was almost evenly distributed.

Table 3: Calculated indices from the three sites

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Condition

Taxa 11 11 11 Moderate
Mayfly taxa 5 6 3 Good
Stonefly taxa 6 4 3 Good
Caddifly taxa 3 2 1 Good
EPT 14 12 7 Good
EPT:Total Ratio 16% 17% 11% Poor
Diptera 0 0 0 Good
EPT:Diptera Moderate Moderate Moderate Slightly Healthy
ratio

Mayfly, Sonefly and Caddifly were all good in all sites since their condition was moderate
overall.Diptea was also good in all the three sites.However the EPT:Total ratio suggested that
the conditions in all the three sites was poor.Overally the EPT:Diptera ratio had a slight
moderate difference hence the water is slightly healthy.

DISCUSSION

Biological water quality monitoring involves collecting samples of aquatic

macroinvertebrates. Aquatic macroinvertebrates live in water for at least part of their life
cycle. They include insects, worms, snails, mussels, leeches, and crayfish. For the purpose of
assessing water quality, sampling is focused on benthic macroinvertebrates, those organisms
that live at the stream bottom.

Aquatic macroinvertebrates that are somewhat tolerant of pollution tend to tolerate some
degradation of water quality. Their abundance and diversity indicates a stream is in fair to
good condition. These macroinvertebrates include alderflies (larvae), dragonflies and
damselflies (nymphs), whirligig beetles (larvae riffle beetles), fishflies (larvae), sowbugs,
scuds, crayfish, clams and mussels.Aquatic macroinvertebrates that are pollution tolerant
thrive in poor quality water. An abundance of these organisms suggests environmental
conditions in a stream have deteriorated. Some of these invertebrates use snorkels to access
oxygen at the water's surface, and are less dependent on dissolved oxygen to breathe. These
macroinvertebrates include: black flies (larvae), midge flies (larvae), lunged snails, aquatic
worms and leeches. (Walker, 2006).

CONCLUSION

The experiment proved that the water was slightly healthy due to the EPT:Diptera ratio as the
difference is low.Hence the water to some extend is polluted, if it was healthy we would have
noticed a great difference in the EPT:Diptera ratio.In all other aspects the water conditions
proved to be good.The EPT:Total ratio also shows the conditions were poor.
REFERENCES

Bartram, J., Wayne W. Carmichael, Ingrid Chorus, Gary Jones, and Olav M. Skulberg (1999)
Chapter 1. Introduction, in: Toxic Cyanobacteria in Water: A guide to their public health
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