Distribution of Aquatic Diptera larvae of Yeşilırmak River (Turkey) and ecological characteristics

Abstract

Yeşilırmak River is one of the most important running waters of Turkey, but the water quality of this river has been affected by agricultural and domestic pollution. Dams and hydroelectric power plants also threaten the habitat quality and biodiversity of the river. This research contains investigation of Diptera fauna in Yeşilırmak River and tributaries, determination ecological characteristics of the collecting sites according to System A and System B Classification of Water Framework Directive (WFD), assessment of water quality of the studied sites by measuring the physicochemical variables (water temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, NO2-N, NO3-N, NH4-N, PO4-P) and using some metrics (abundance, number of taxa, Simpson Diversity Index, Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index, Margalef Diversity Index, Evenness). Thirty-three (33) sites were sampled from Yeşilırmak River and its tributaries in June 2010. Diptera individuals were detected in 20 of them. Two thousand four hundred forty-five (2445) individuals belonging to 12 families and 16 taxa were identified in 20 sampling sites. The water quality classes of the studied sites were Class III (moderate pollution) and Class IV (heavily pollution) according to values of physicochemical variables.