Assemblage of oligochaetes in mesohabitats of streams with different land uses in Minas Gerais, Brazil

ABSTRACT

The different environmental conditions resulting from the mesohabitats and land uses around streams can interfere in the structure and composition of the oligochaete fauna, widely used as indicators of aquatic ecosystems. The objective of the present study was to evaluate and compare the oligochaete fauna found in mesohabitats of pools and riffles in streams with different land uses in their proximity (forested, urban and pasture). A sampling of fauna and environmental parameters was carried out in nine streams belonging to the Ribeirão Marmelos sub-basin, Minas Gerais. A significant difference in the oligochaete fauna was found in the different mesohabitats and land uses. Conductivity, width, and depth were important variables in the separation between pools and riffles. Aulophorus furcatus was the species associated with urban environments, Pristina jenkinae to riffles and Opistocysta funiculus, Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, and juvenile Tubificinae were linked to pools. The results found may contribute to understanding the relationship between the structure and composition of the oligochaete fauna, the mesohabitats and land use.

KEYWORDS:

• Macroinvertebrates
• tropical streams
• environmental assessment
• forested
• riffles
• pools

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions and contributions to this manuscript.

Author contributions

LPG, LFTR, and RGA conceived and designed the study. LPG carried out the bibliographic survey and the data collection, performed the statistical analyses and wrote the first draft. LFTR and RGA reviewed and improved the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordeação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Financing Code 001.