EPT distribution pattern in relation to environmental variables of urban streams in Western Amazonia

Resumen

Urbanization is a phenomenon that has threatened the integrity of aquatic ecosystems around the globe, affecting the quality of life and biota of these ecosystems. Streams in urban areas are subject to contamination by garbage and sewage, as well as vegetation degradation, which can affect aquatic macroinvertebrate communities such as Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT). Thus, in order to verify the influence of environmental variables on the distribution patterns of these communities and thereby assist in directing public policies to outline strategies for the conservation of local biodiversity, the EPT Index, Habitat Integrity Index, PERMANOVA and Main Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) were applied using environmental data and community structuring measures (abundance and diversity) sampled in 10 streams of the city of Porto Velho, RO, Brazil. According to our results, it was observed that the number of families and the abundance of EPT have a positive relationship with habitat integrity and a negative relationship with temperature increase, which reflect the need for environmental heterogeneity for EPT conservation. Therefore, our study provides subsidies to guide public policies for biodiversity conservation.