Macroinvertebrate diversity of Kamal lake, Rukum East, Nepal

Abstract

The study of macroinvertebrate was carried out in unexplored mid hill lake ‘Kamal lake’ of Sisne Rural Municipality, Rukum, during September to December 2022. Altogether eight sampling sites were systematically selected at every 200 m distance apart from each other. Macroinvertebrates were collected for 30 minutes in each sampling site from the shoreline to two meter of peripheral zone by using a sweep method with a hand net and sieves (500 μm mesh size). The macroinvertebrates were collected from all possible substratums such as underside of stones, leaf litters, rotten stems, manures, muddy, grassy area and also measured physicochemical parameters such as pH, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids using a handheld multi-parameter probe. A total of 3,467 individuals belonging to three phyla, 27 genera under 14 families and nine orders were identified including individuals of two unidentified species. The diversity index (2.40), species richness (27) and evenness (0.73) of the macroinvertebrate were recorded. The relation of diversity with physicochemical parameters was correlated by using Pearson Correlation Coefficient which shows positive relation with temperature (+0.6191), pH (+0.0658), TDS (+0.3825) and EC (+0.0432) but shows negative relation with DO (-0.0027). The analysis showed Lymnaea genus as the most abundant during the study period.