Water quality assessment of Selendi Stream and comparative performance of the indices based on benthic macroinvertebrates and physicochemical parameters

Abstract

The main objective of the present study was to investigate the water quality of the Selendi Stream and to compare the performance of the indices. Biotic and diversity indices based on benthic macroinvertebrates have been applied using Asterics software programme. Klee’s method, cluster analysis (CLUS) and principal component (PCA) analysis were applied to the physicochemical dataset. Seven sites were determined and samplings were carried out monthly. By using UPGMA analysis, similarities between the sites were clustered based on both benthic macroinvertebrates and physicochemical parameters. Pearson’s based correlations were applied to the indices in order to determine the proper biotic indices. The results indicate that the BMWP Polish, BMWP Spanish, BMWP Hungarian, BMWP Greek versions and all versions of ASPT indices are more proper than FBI and BBI indices to determine the water quality of Selendi Stream.