Influence of water quality on the diversity and distribution of macro-invertebrates in highland stream, Northern Ethiopia

The diversity of tropical aquatic ecosystems is severely threatened by anthropogenic activities. What is more, the continuum of most of the tropical river is interrupted by several man-made activities contributing to adverse effects which hamper the provision of good quality water. This study was conducted to assess the influence of water quality on the diversity and distribution of macroinvertebrates in Highland stream of Tigray region. A total of 42 taxa of benthic macroinvertebrates were recorded. Among which Trichoptera (31%) and Ephemeroptera (16%) were the dominant taxa. Furthermore, species diversity is positively correlated with water quality. Generally, low macroinvertebrate diversity was observed in the stream section with overall water degradation and anthropogenic disturbance Thus, man-made activities may have caused changes among the physicochemical parameters which led to depletion of benthic macroinvertebrate biota in Illala stream. Thus, we recommend that effluent from the town should be carefully managed.