Macrobenthic invertebrates of a stream flowing through farmlands in Southern Nigeria

Macrobenthic invertebrates of a fourth order stream flowing through farmlands in Southern Nigeria were studied. Fifty-five taxa, comprising a total of 9008 individuals were collected. Chironomidae, Naididae and Baetidae were the major components of the benthic community. In spite of the overall faunal similarity, the distribution and abundance of macroinvertebrate taxa were different in the three study biotopes. Similarly, the taxa richness, general diversity and evenness indices calculated for these werea also different. The benthic diversity of the study section is much higher than its downstream sections perturbed by urban activities. It is, however, lower than the expected high diversity of tropical streams and is therefore indicative of a physically controlled ecosystem.