Impacts of agricultural land use on stream benthic macroinvertebrates in tributaries of the Mekong River, northeast Thailand.
Journal Title: Advances in Environmental Sciences - International Journal of the Bioflux Society - Year 2010, Vol 2, Issue 2
Abstract
Ecological impacts of non-intensive agricultural activities on stream community, especially in headwater streams adjacent to conserved areas, are poorly known in Thailand. We investigated the impacts of non-intensive agricultural activities on stream habitat characteristics and benthic macroinvertebrate community in the headwater streams, tributaries of the Mekong River, northeast Thailand. We compared the streams running through forests in National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries and those through agricultural areas. Twenty kick samples of benthic macroinvertebrates were collected using a D-frame dipnet (0.3 m wide, 450 µm mesh size) from each sampling site. Sixteen physicochemical parameters of stream characteristics were measured. The results suggested that this disturbance had an impact on stream habitats more than its community. Agricultural land use altered the streams to be wider, deeper, and more discharged with less percentage of riparian coverage and high water temperature. Benthic macroinvertebrate composition did not differ in both areas, but intolerant benthic fauna decreased, while tolerant taxa were predominant and more abundant in the agricultural areas. In this study, water velocity and water temperature are the major important variables related to the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates.
Authors and Affiliations
Paiboon Getwongsa, Chutima Hanjavanit, Narumon Sangpradub
Keywords
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