Evaluating benthic macroinvertebrate fauna and water quality of Suleymanli Lake (Buldan-Denizli) in Turkey

Abstract

Benthic macroinvertebrate samples were taken seasonally from October 2006 to April 2008 except winter seasons with the aim of evaluate macroinvertebrate fauna and water quality of Suleymanli Lake. In total, 61 benthic macroinvertebrate taxa were found and 40 of them are new records for the lake. Chandler Score and Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index provided more compatible data than Revised Biological Monitoring Working Party, Extended Trent Biotic Index and Belgian Biotic Index with physical-chemical results. Also, Principle Component Analysis was carried out to establish associations between benthic macroinvertebrates and environment variables. In our study, the lake water quality was determined as moderately polluted. Obtained environmental variables from water samples showed that the temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity are the most important par ameters in explaining the macroinvertebrate community variation in the lake.