The effects of road and bridge construction on the bank-root macrobenthic invertebrates of a Southern Nigerian stream

Anthony E. Ogbeibu*, Reginald Victor

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

42 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A comparative study was conducted at three stations on a fourth order Nigerian stream to evaluate the effects of a road and bridge construction on the macrobenthic invertebrates of the bank-root biotope. Siltation and sedimentation appear to be the important factors affecting macroinvertebrates. At station 2, the construction site, there was a considerable reduction in the occurrence and abundance of invertebrate taxa; different groups of invertebrates showed varying responses to perturbational stress; the taxa richness, general diversity and evenness were also low. Irregular fluctuations in diversity and evenness suggested that the benthic community of station 2 was less stable than those of upstream and downstream stations. The concentrated dominance of Ephemeroptera and Coleoptera at station 2, despite low diversity, reflected the ability of a few tolerant taxa to occur there in high abundance. Faunal comparisons of the three stations confirmed the perturbational stress caused by construction activities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)85-100
Number of pages16
JournalEnvironmental Pollution
Volume56
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1989
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Toxicology
  • Pollution
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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