macro invertebrate flyer

8/14/2019 Macro Invertebrate Flyer

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Since 2005 local community organization Regional Environmental

Awareness Cameron Highlands has initiated a new community based

approach of water management in the Cameron Highlands. By aid of

aquatic marco invertebrates and basic chemical testing water quality

in the areas major rivers is monitored regularly.

Water insects indicating water quality

TEXT BY REACH MAY 2009

PLEASESUPPORT REACH

Macro invertebrates

Aquatic macro-invertebrates are

tiny creepy crawlies living in therivers. It is a community of insect

(larvae), beetles, worms, snails

and other small creatures. Not

every aquatic macro-invertebratecan live in every type of waterquality: some species need really

clean water (water with thequality of drinking water) others

can live perfectly well in pollutedwater with lots of sewage. These

little creatures are super-sensitive

for changes in their environment.This means that they are very

accurate in telling you how cleanthe water is. But how exactly can

you tell from these macro-invertebrates if the water is clean

then?

Well first you need to catch themwith a net on the bottom or the

sides of a river or stream: that iswhere they live. Then you have

to identify which species and inwhich amount they occur in your

collected sample. By filling in thespecies that you found and theirabundance (numbers) in a special

table you can classify the streamor river for its water quality. This

method is used as a standard toolby many countries around the

globe to asses water quality.

Water pollution Where does this water pollution

come from in the first place? The

main reason for water pollutionin the Cameron Highlands are

the big agriculture (farms) that

President of REACH:

Mr. Ramakrishnan Ramasamy AMN

Email: president@ reach.org.my

Contact us at:

REACH Office

No. 1 Jalan Besar

Brinchang, Caneron Highlands



you see everywhere, they use

enormous amounts of toxic

pesticides and fertilisers. Also thedomestic sewage from villages that

is poured in the river courses,causes severe water pollution.

Erosion from farmland ad-ditionally causes mud to flow into

the rivers; this is called ‘siltation’.You can easily see that most rivers

are brown, especially during rain.

Tiny particles of clay and sand arewashed down. This has resulted in

the Ringlet Reservoir being completely clocked by mud. All

rivers in the main valley betweenBrinchang, Tanah Rata and

Ringlet are now strongly polluted.The most important pollutants

are: faecal bacteria (E. coli),

organic pollution (sewage, manure& fertilisers), suspended solids

(washed off clay and sand), solidwaste and pesticides.

Virgin mountain streams in theforest have outstanding water

quality and are very important for

the ecosystem. These streams alsoform a vital and reliable supply of

good quality drinking water for thepeople living in the Cameron

Highlands. Unfortunately the

intensive agriculture also needslarge amounts of water forirrigation. That is why illegal

water taping now only leafs 20%of all water in the forests for public

drinking water production. Mostof this water that is used in

agriculture is (illegally) tappedfrom small mountain streams in

the forest containing the best

quality water of the Highlands.

Water quality monitoring Water quality monitoring is

important for a better under-standing of the reasons for

water pollution, also well as tofollow changes in water quality

of the rivers (is it going betteror worse?) and to create

awareness among people.

Macro invertebrate assess-ments are perfect for water

quality monitoring becausethere are very precise, and because

it is an inexpensive method thatdoes not need complicated

equipment. By taking samples on aregular basis (once a month) of

different rivers, and identifying the

species and then filling in themonitoring forms, groups of

students or volunteers can monitorthe quality of the rivers them-

selves.

Invertebrate assessmentsThe aquatic macro invertebrateassessment involves collecting,processing, and analyzing aquatic organisms to determinethe health of the biologicalcommunity in a stream. This inturn tells you about the healthof the river in general and theamount of pollution that affects

it. Aquatic Macro invertebratesinhabit all types of running waters. They live part or mostof their life-cycle attached tosubmerged rocks and vege-tation or hiding in the sand org r a v e l . A q u a t i c m a c r oinvertebrates are good indi-cators of stream qualitybecause:

1) They are affected by thephysical, chemical, and biolo-gical conditions of the stream;

2) They can't escape pollutionand show the effects of short-and long term pollution events;Some are very intolerant of pollution;

3) They are relatively easy tosample and identify.

By looking at which insects are living in the water, you can tell exactly how clean

or how polluted the water is.

Sample point B

45%

0%

41%

5% 9%EPT -tax a 45%

Decapoda 0%

Gastr opada 41%

Chir onimidae 5%

Hirundinae 9%



The pollution tolerances of the various aquatic macro inver-tebrates are based upon theaquatic macro invertebrates'tolerance to pollution.Organisms are separated into 3categories of pollution toler-ance: Sensitive or intolerant,Some-what sensi t ive andTolerant to pollution.

In a river/stream with goodwater quality aquatic macroinvertebrates of both sensitiveto pollution and invertebratestolerant to pollution are found. No particular group or types of organisms will dominate theaquatic macro invertebratepopulation of the stream. Thestream has a high diversity; a‘little bit of everything’ is found.The main organisms found hereare Stonefly larvae, Mayflylarvae and Caddisfly larvae.

With increased organic pol-lution (from nutrients found infertilizers, sewage, and othersources) dissolved oxygen levelswithin the stream fluctuatemore extremely and fewer

pollution sensitive organismswill be found. Aquatic macroinvertebrates that can toleratelower oxygen levels will becomemore prevalent. As organicpollution continues to increase,some pollution tolerant aquaticmacro invertebrates will becomedominant and will be able tosupport large populations withinthe stream, while pollution

sensitive or some-what organ-isms will be unable to survive.

In this polluted stream a fewspecies ‘’can take over’’ andthrive by the thousands. Mainorganisms found here at leeches,snails and blood worms.

REACHRegional Environmental Awar-eness Cameron Highlands wasformed by several residents of

the Cameron Highlands whowere concerned about environ-menta l prob lems in theCameron Highlands. It wasofficially registered on 6thSeptember 2001. REACH andaims "to conserve CameronHighlands as an area of naturalresources and as a naturalheritage, a highland resort

surrounded by permanent forestreserve and sustainable agri-culture with quality drinking water".REACH tries to increase theawareness of the importance of good river water quality. Thecommunity based approach toriver quality monitoring is oneof the ways of doing so. AlsoREACH organizes exhibitions,

give talks (for instance on World Water Day) and they do theirown research.

Water quality monitoring is important to create

awareness and to learn about the changing

environment.

www.reach.org.my

http://clean-water.uwex.edu/wav/monitoring/biotic/group4.htm



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