Longitudinal Distribution of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Related to River Ecological Quality
Macroinvertebrates of the Venta River have been studied since the beginning of the 20th century. However, complex studies along the Venta River from the Latvian–Lithuanian border to its mouth into the Baltic Sea have been irregular and fragmentary. The aim of this study was to assess the ecological...
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2025-03-01
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| author | Māra Kostanda Gunta Spriņģe Dāvis Ozoliņš Agnija Skuja Oskars Purmalis |
| author_facet | Māra Kostanda Gunta Spriņģe Dāvis Ozoliņš Agnija Skuja Oskars Purmalis |
| author_sort | Māra Kostanda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Macroinvertebrates of the Venta River have been studied since the beginning of the 20th century. However, complex studies along the Venta River from the Latvian–Lithuanian border to its mouth into the Baltic Sea have been irregular and fragmentary. The aim of this study was to assess the ecological status of the Venta River and to analyze the abundance and fauna composition of macroinvertebrates along the entire length of the river in the territory of Latvia. This is the first study of its kind for the Venta River examining the specialization of macroinvertebrates in sediment substrates and their functional feeding groups. Within the framework of the study, the composition and functional importance of macroinvertebrates was assessed in 10 sampling sites together with the ecological quality of the river using several indices. The results show that the Venta River is dominated by benthic invertebrate collectors/gatherers, active filterers, grazers, and scrapers that have adapted to the particular type of sediments formed by silt, macrophytes, rocks, and pebbles. Different indices were calculated in order to assess the ecological quality of the Venta River. According to the saprobity index, the water quality corresponds to β-mesosaprobity, while ecological quality is mostly average; however, according to the multimetric indices, the quality of the Venta River varies from poor to high depending on the sampling station. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-960ba0aaa44041d29caf47784b7c227d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2300-7575 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Limnological Review |
| spelling | doaj-art-960ba0aaa44041d29caf47784b7c227d2025-08-20T02:42:25ZengMDPI AGLimnological Review2300-75752025-03-01251810.3390/limnolrev25010008Longitudinal Distribution of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Related to River Ecological QualityMāra Kostanda0Gunta Spriņģe1Dāvis Ozoliņš2Agnija Skuja3Oskars Purmalis4Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology, Agency of Daugavpils University, Voleru st. 4, LV-1007 Riga, LatviaFaculty of Science and Technology, University of Latvia, Jelgavas st. 1, LV-1004 Riga, LatviaInstitute of Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Latvia, Jelgavas st. 1, LV-1004 Riga, LatviaInstitute of Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Latvia, Jelgavas st. 1, LV-1004 Riga, LatviaFaculty of Science and Technology, University of Latvia, Jelgavas st. 1, LV-1004 Riga, LatviaMacroinvertebrates of the Venta River have been studied since the beginning of the 20th century. However, complex studies along the Venta River from the Latvian–Lithuanian border to its mouth into the Baltic Sea have been irregular and fragmentary. The aim of this study was to assess the ecological status of the Venta River and to analyze the abundance and fauna composition of macroinvertebrates along the entire length of the river in the territory of Latvia. This is the first study of its kind for the Venta River examining the specialization of macroinvertebrates in sediment substrates and their functional feeding groups. Within the framework of the study, the composition and functional importance of macroinvertebrates was assessed in 10 sampling sites together with the ecological quality of the river using several indices. The results show that the Venta River is dominated by benthic invertebrate collectors/gatherers, active filterers, grazers, and scrapers that have adapted to the particular type of sediments formed by silt, macrophytes, rocks, and pebbles. Different indices were calculated in order to assess the ecological quality of the Venta River. According to the saprobity index, the water quality corresponds to β-mesosaprobity, while ecological quality is mostly average; however, according to the multimetric indices, the quality of the Venta River varies from poor to high depending on the sampling station.https://www.mdpi.com/2300-7575/25/1/8benthic invertebratesecological qualityfunctional feeding groupsVenta River |
| spellingShingle | Māra Kostanda Gunta Spriņģe Dāvis Ozoliņš Agnija Skuja Oskars Purmalis Longitudinal Distribution of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Related to River Ecological Quality Limnological Review benthic invertebrates ecological quality functional feeding groups Venta River |
| title | Longitudinal Distribution of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Related to River Ecological Quality |
| title_full | Longitudinal Distribution of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Related to River Ecological Quality |
| title_fullStr | Longitudinal Distribution of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Related to River Ecological Quality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Longitudinal Distribution of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Related to River Ecological Quality |
| title_short | Longitudinal Distribution of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Related to River Ecological Quality |
| title_sort | longitudinal distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates related to river ecological quality |
| topic | benthic invertebrates ecological quality functional feeding groups Venta River |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2300-7575/25/1/8 |
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