Aquatic macroinvertebrates diversity and riparian channel and environmental inventory in Gibong River, Philippines

This study aimed to assess the diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates and its implications towards the water quality of Gibong River, Philippines. Riparian, Channel Environmental (RCE) inventory was undertaken to describe the integrity of the riparian vegetation. Selected physicochemical parameters were determined to support the presence of bioindicator macroinvertebrates species. A total of 18 macroinvertebrate species were collected, mostly arthropods (87%) and molluscs (13%). Upstreamstations have the highest number of species because of its intact vegetation while midstream stations had the least, probably due to environmental stress. The RCE scores for the three locations –upstream, midstream and downstream garnered “fair” to “very good” ratings. All the physicochemical properties of Gibong River were within desirable limits except for the dissolved oxygen (DO) of midstream and downstream stations which were lower than the acceptable limits. Improvement of the riparian vegetation is highly recommended to enrich the diversity of macroinvertebrates in this river.