Water quality assessment based on macroinvertebrates – small hilly streams in the Carpathian-Balkan region of Eastern Serbia

Abstract

In this paper the status assessment of small hilly streams in the Carpathian-Balkan region (Eastern Serbia) is given based on aquatic macroinvertebrates. The research was conducted in April, June, and September 2013 at nine sampling sites on seven streams. During the investigation 85 macroinvertebrate taxa from 11 taxa groups were recorded. Diptera (32.06 %) and Ephemeroptera (28.47 %) were dominant groups. Following indices were used for the status assessment: total number of taxa, Saprobic Index, Diversity index H’, BMWP and ASPT, number of sensitive taxa and EPT. The results indicate low degree of organic pollution in analyzed streams.