Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) Communities as Bio-indicator of Stagnant Water Body Quality

• Main Author: Siti Afiqah, Amri
• Format: Final Year Project Report
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2014
• Subjects: QL Zoology; SF Animal culture
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/33440/3/Siti%20Afiqah%28fulltext%29.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/33440/

Dragonflies and damselflies are important in bio-monitoring processes since they are one of the most appropriate model for habitat monitoring and for assessment of particular ecosystem. The objectives of this study were to determine and compare the diversity of Odonata and to test the relationship between diversity and community structure of Odonata in relation to water body quality at four different lakes. The community of adult dragonflies and damselflies in lakes were captured by using aerial net in four study sites which are UNIMAS Lakes (Tasik UNIMAS I and 2) in East Campus, Kota Samarahan Lake and Tasik Biru, Bau starting from 4 November 2013 until 23 January 2014 and continues on 20 February until 30 March 2014. The sampling was conducted from 1000 to 1700 with total of 32 days sampling period. The hydrological parameters of each water bodies were been examined by using multifunction water quality meters to have confirmation on their pollution status. A total of 189 individuals from 13 species were documented. The highest number of Odonata recorded belong to family Libellulidae (9 species), followedby Coenagrionidae (4 species). Based on the diversity indices used, Tasik Unimas 2 was the richest study site with H'=2.03, Simpson dominance (c): 0.8379 and Mangelef index (d): 2.111. Tasik Unimas 1 and Tasik Unimas 2 are the most similar study (0.625) sites while the least paired sites are between Tasik Unimas I and Tasik Kota Samarahan (0.333).