The investigation of macroinvertebrates abundance in the Zarin-Gol River (Golestan province)

The change of land use can change the components of the habitat quality and population structure of aquatic organisms. The purpose of this study is to use a combination of macroinvertebrate to assess the effects human activities such as agriculture, rural, fish form, and forest and reference site (upstream) along the Zarin-Gol River, Golestan province. Sampling of macroinvertebrate was performed monthly in two season (winter and spring) 2015-16 and nine stations (in different land use along stream) with Surber sampler (0.09 square meter) in three replications. A total of 1929 samples were collected from macroinvertebrate belong to 30 families and 9 orders. The highest abundance of Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera was observed in spring and in the stations 6, 7, 8 and 9 and Diptera was the rest. The maximum value of Shannon diversity index and Margalef richness was obtained in the stations 6, 7, 8 and 9. The cluster analysis of different stations and season showed three distinct groups. The results showed that the land use fluctuations based on human activities caused a decrease in abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrate (reduction of sensitive organisms and increase of resistant organisms).