Indicative ecological status assessment of Ribnica River (Kolubara basin) based on aquatic macroinvertebrates

Abstract

This paper aims to present indicative ecological status of the Ribnica River, a tributary to the Kolubara River, based on aquatic macroinvertebrate community. On 7 selected localities a total of 123 taxa were identified. These taxa belong to 14 taxonomic groups. Macroinvertebrate community was dominated by insect groups, mainly Diptera, Trtichoptera and Ephemeroptera, while other groups are less diverse and have lower abundance. Overall water quality was moderate or better with exception of the site located between Paštrić village and Mionica, which showed deterioration in all biological quality indices. This can be explained by the presence of numerous farms in the vicinity which have a negative impact on taxa richness and composition of macroinvertebrate community.