DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF TRICHOPTERA (INSECTA) LARVAE IN SELECTED RIVERS OF ROYAL BELUM STATE PARK, GERIK, PERAK WITH REFERENCES TO HABITAT PREFERENCE AND DIEL PERIODICITY SITI MARIAM ZHAFARINA BT RUSLI UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA 2012 DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF TRICHOPTERA (INSECTA) LARVAE IN SELECTED RIVERS OF ROYAL BELUM STATE PARK, GERIK, PERAK WITH REFERENCES TO HABITAT PREFERENCE AND DIEL PERIODICITY By Siti Mariam Zhafarina Bt Rusli Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science February 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Alhamdullilah, thanks to Allah I finally completed my study. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Prof Che Salmah Md Rawi for her excellent supervision, guidance, help, support and great patience throughout this endeavor. I am thankful to my family whom endlessly supported me; my father, Mr. Rusli Ismail, mother, Mrs. Robiyah Abd Ghani and my siblings for their love, understanding and encouragement. I am also grateful to Dr. Salman Abdo Al-Shami for his valuable guidance, constructive ideas and willingness to spend times to help me during my study. I also would like to thank Dr. Suhaila Abd Hamid for her valuable contribution to my project and thesis writing. Not forgotten, my deepest appreciation and thanks to all aquatic entomology laboratory lab mates; Asiah, Huda, Adibah, Farha, Shafiq, Mr. Rasdi, Aiman, Aida, Nurita and also laboratory assistant Mrs. Khatijah and many others who directly or indirectly lend some helps for me. Their presence and readiness to help blossomed a friendly atmosphere throughout my study. Special thanks to the Dean of School of Biological Sciences, Prof Abu Hassan Ahmad for his wisdom, encouragement and provision of conducive research environment. Thanks to Universiti Sains Malaysia for providing the financial support (Postgraduate Research Grant, IPS), without which I will not able to complete my research. Not forgotten, my gratitude is also extended to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI) for granting me the National Science Fellowship and a research grant. My heartiest gratitude to the research officer, Mr. Ahmad Najmi Hassan from Pulau Banding Rainforest Research Center for his tireless assistance during my field studies. My gratitude is also extended to the boatmen, Mr. Yahya and Mr. Hadi who always provided excellent services during my sampling. Last but not least, special thanks to rangers from Perbadanan Taman Negeri Perak, Mr. Analeh, Mr. Azman, Mr. Safri and others who are not mention here. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES xi LIST OF PLATES xiv LIST OF APPENDICES xv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xvi LIST OF PUBLICATIONS xviii ABSTRAK xix ABSTRACT xxi CHAPTER 1 – GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 6 2.2 Factor influencing diversity and abundance of Trichoptera 9 2.2.1 Water velocity 9 2.2.2 Water temperature 10 2.2.3 Dissolved oxygen (DO) 11 2.2.4 pH 13 2.2.5 River width, depth and vegetation 13 2.2.6 Seasonal changes and flood 14 iii 2.2.7 Environmental disturbance 15 2.2.8 Altitude 16 2.3 Spatial distribution of Trichoptera 17 2.3.1 Types of microhabitat 18 2.3.2 Functional feeding groups (FFGs) 21 2.4 Importance and function of Trichoptera 2.4.1 Bioindication of aquatic ecosystem health 24 2.4.2 River ecosystem energy dynamics (Trophic role) 27 2.5 Diel-periodicity of caddisfly larvae and other aquatic insects 28 CHAPTER 3– DIVERSITY OF TRICHOPTERA LARVAE IN SELECTED RIVERS OF ROYAL BELUM STATE PARK WITH REFERENCE TO HABITAT PREFERENCE 3.1 Introduction 32 3.2 Materials and Methods 3.2.1 Study sites 35 3.2.2 Larvae sampling 38 3.2.3 Measurement of water parameters 39 3.2.4 Statistical analysis 40 3.2.5 Ecological Indices 41 3.2.6 Biological Index 43 3.2.7 Water Quality Index 43 iv 3.3 Results 3.3.1 River characteristics and morphology 45 3.3.2 Distribution and composition of caddisfly larvae 46 3.3.3 Diversity and abundance of caddisfly larvae 51 3.3.4 Importance Species Index (ISI) 54 3.3.5 Cluster analysis 56 3.3.6 Influence of water parameters on abundance of caddisfly 59 larvae 3.3.7 Temporal distribution and seasonal abundance of caddisfly 66 larvae 3.4 Discussion 70 CHAPTER 4 – ASSEMBLAGES OF CADDISFLY LARVAE WITHIN FIVE DIFFERENT MICROHABITATS WITH REFERENCES TO THEIR FUNCTIONAL FEEDING GROUPS (FFGs) 4.1 Introduction 77 4.2 Materials and Methods 4.2.1 Study site and microhabitat classification 80 4.2.2 Sampling of larval caddislfies 83 4.2.3 Data analysis 84 v 4.3 Results 4.3.1 Diversity and abundance of caddisfly larvae 86 4.3.2 Spatial distribution of caddisfly larvae and microhabitats 91 similarity 4.3.3 Functional feeding groups (FFGs) 93 4.4 Discussion 96 CHAPTER 5 – PATTERN OF CADDISFLY LARVAE AND OTHER AQUATIC INSECTS DRIFT IN MES RIVER 5.1 Introduction 100 5.2 Materials and Methods 5.2.1 Study site 103 5.2.2 Monitoring of aquatic insect drift 103 5.2.3 Data analysis 105 5.3 Results 5.3.1 Diversity and density of aquatic insect community drift in 107 Mes River 5.3.2 Functional feeding groups (FFGs) of aquatic insects drifted 115 5.4 Discussion 124 vi CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 6.1 Conclusion 128 6.2 Recommendation 131 REFFERENCES 132 APPENDICES 156 vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 2.1 Various caddisfly species assemblages in rivers at different 16 elevation (adapted from Blinn and Ruiter, 2009). Table 3.1 Streambed morphology of the RBSP rivers. 46 Table 3.2 Density (Mean ± SE) of caddisfly larvae per m2 collected 49 from the rivers of the RBSP from February 2009 to February 2010. Table 3.3 Total individuals and percentage (%) of caddisfly genera 50 collected from the four rivers of RBSP (February 2009- February 2010). Table 3.4 Scores of Mann-Whitney test on the caddisfly larvae 51 abundance among the four rivers. Table 3.5 Ecological Indices (diversity, richness and evenness) in the 53 four investigated rivers. Table 3.6 The Important Species Index (ISI) scores of genera in all 55 rivers. Table 3.7 Physico-chemical parameters (mean ± SE) of water and 60 river characteristics measured monthly from February 2009 to February 2010 in all four rivers of RBSP. Table 3.8 Water Quality Index (WQI) scores and river classes of 60 studied rivers of RBSP. viii Table 3.9 Influences of physico-chemical parameters on the 63 trichopterans larvae abundance revealed by Spearman’s Correlation Test; DO = dissolved oxygen, BOD=biochemical oxygen demand, TSS=total suspended solid, COD=chemical oxygen demand, NH3-N = Ammonia Nitrate, Temp = water temperature, Vel = velocity, Cond = Conductivity, TDS=total dissolved solid. Table 3.10 Correlation, eigenvalues and variance explained for the 64 four axes of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of 2 caddisfly larvae (abundance/m ) (log10 X+1) and environmental variables (13 variables) for all sampling occasions of the four investigated rivers in the Roal Belum State Park, Perak. Total Inertia (TI) = 1.134. Sum of all canonical eigenvalues = 0.466. Table 4.1 Diversity of caddisfly larvae in five microhabitats. 88 Table 4.2 Spatial distribution of caddisfly larvae in five viable 90 microhabitats in the rivers of RBSP, Perak. Table 4.3 Occurrence of caddisfly genera functional feeding groups 92 (FFGs) in five microhabitats in RBSP. Table 4.4 Relationship between predatory caddisfly larvae and their 95 potential preys. Table 5.1 Composition of aquatic insects (immature and adult) 108 drifted during the day and at night in Mes River. ix Table 5.2 Diversity, richness and evenness of aquatic insect drifted in 111 Mes River, RBSP. Table 5.3 The influence of water discharge on the abundance of 114 aquatic insect drift in Mes River indicated by the Spearman’s Correlation Test. Table 5.4 Functional feeding groups (FFGs) of aquatic insects drift 116 during the daytime and at nighttime in Mes River, RBSP. Table 5.5 Comparison of mean drifted functional feeding groups 119 (FFGs) abundance during two time intervals in Mes River (Kruskal-Wallis test). Table 5.6 Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient values (p<0.05) 122 showing aquatic insects prey-predator relationships in Mes River. The values of p<0.20 were excluded because of their weak relationship. x LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 2.1 a. Adult caddisfly b. Larva of caddisfly 8 (Hydropsychidae) c. Filter net and retreat (Hydropsychidae) d - l Portable cases of larvae; d. Helicopsyche sp. (Helicopsychidae); e. Glossosoma sp. (Glossosomatidae); f. Lepidostoma sp. (Lepidostomatidae); g. Molanna sp. (Molannidae); h. Anisocentropus sp. (Calamoceratidae); i. Micrasema sp. (Brachycentridae); j. Gumaga sp. (Sericostomatiade); k. Triaenodes sp. (Leptoceridae); l. Ceraclea sp. (Leptoceridae) (adapted from Yule and Yong, 2004 & Gullan and Cranston, 2005). Figure 3.1 Map of Royal Belum State Park (RBSP) with 36 corresponding studied rivers; 1: Kejar River, 2: Mes River, 3: Tan Hain River, 4: Ruok River, 5: Jetty of Pulau Banding. Figure 3.2 Density (mean±SE) of caddisfly larvae in the four rivers of 52 RBSP from February 2009-February 2010. xi Figure 3.3 Bray-Curtis Cluster Analysis; a. Caddisfly larvae were 58 arranged into different cluster based on their abundance and distribution pattern. b. The rivers were grouped into three main clusters based on caddisfly composition, abundance and distribution patterns. Figure 3.4 Ordination diagram of the first two axes of canonical 65 correspondence analysis (CCA) showing the relationship between pysico-chemical parameters and distribution of caddisfly larvae (log10 X+1) collected from the rivers of Royal Belum State Park, Perak.