Physico-Chemical Parameters and Macro-Benthos of Ediene Stream, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
Physico-chemical parameters and macro-benthos of Ediene Stream in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria were studied from January to June 2013. Water and benthic organisms’ samples were collected monthly from three sampling stations along the stream. Mean values of air temperature of 27.31± 0.35oC; water temperature of 27.18±0.16oC; transparency 2.51±0.32m; pH 6.54±0.13; Electrical Conductivity (EC) 27.23±7.00µS/cm; Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) 15.90±4.38mg/l; total suspended solid 2.38±0.90mg/l; Dissolved Oxygen (DO) 8.21±0.98mg/L; Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) 3.45±0.60mg/l; acidity 42.29±5.81mg/l; alkalinity 32.89±5.52mg/l and chloride 42.80±3.79mg/l were recorded. There was no significant (p<0.05) spatial variation for all the parameters except for transparency. Of the five parameters that showed significant seasonal variations, air temperature was higher in the dry season than in the wet season while TSS, DO, BOD and acidity, all had higher wet season values than dry season. Three classes of macro-benthos were encountered; comprising of seventeen 17 families and 18 species. Insecta was the most abundant (89.15 %) with 16 species while the least abundant was Clitellata (5.19%). Apart from Insecta, other classes were represented by one species each. The number of individuals and species decreased downstream. Margalef species diversity was highest in station 2 while species evenness was highest in station 3. All the classes of macro-benthos were more abundant in the dry season than in the wet season but Clitellata was the only class that showed a significant (p<0.05) seasonal difference.The abundance and diversity of the macro-benthoswere affected by parameters like air temperature, pH, EC, DO and BOD.The decreases of macro-benthos downstream, high DO and BOD may be indications of pollution and stress from anthropogenic sources.
Physico-Chemical, Macro-Benthos, Abundance, Ediene Stream, Nigeria
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