Land use effects on Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) communities in RanauBeluran District, Sabah, Malaysia

• Main Authors: Andrew B. H. Wong, Vi V. Chaw, Arman Hadi Bin Mohmad @ Fikri
• Format: Article
• Language: English; English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Q Science (General)
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/26524/1/Land%20use%20effects%20on%20Ephemeroptera%2C%20Plecoptera%2C%20and%20Trichoptera%20%28EPT%29%20communities%20in%20RanauBeluran%20District%2C%20Sabah%2C%20Malaysia.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/26524/2/Land%20use%20effects%20on%20Ephemeroptera%2C%20Plecoptera%2C%20and%20Trichoptera%20%28EPT%29%20communities%20in%20RanauBeluran%20District%2C%20Sabah%2C%20Malaysia1.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/26524/

Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) are particularly sensitive and well suited as bioindicators for monitoring stream health. This study aims to investigate the EPT communities between disturbed and undisturbed areas of Ranau-Beluran District. Based on National Water Quality Standards of Malaysia, the sampled streams were categorized as Class I and II of water classes. Nonparametric MannWhitney test showed that only canopy cover was significantly different between disturbed and undisturbed sites. The sampled insects were dominated by Ephemeroptera (80.42%), followed by Plecoptera (14%) and Trichoptera order (5.58%). The Leptophlebiid family was the most abundant (44.82%). Family richness, the Simpson’s and Shannon-Weiner diversity indices all showed similar trends, EPT diversity being lower in disturbed sites. The diversity of EPT was strongly related to canopy cover.