2 new publications by GTI trainee Hamed Odountan from UAC, Benin

1. 'Can Macroinvertebrate Assemblage Changes Be Used as Biological Indicator of Water Quality of the Nokoue Lake (Benin)?' by Hamed Odountan and Youssouf Abou, published in the Journal of Environmental Protection, 2015, 6, 1402-1416
Published Online December 2015 in SciRes.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep.2015.612122

Abstract:

Investigations on biological capacity of water quality of macroinvertebrate community are very uncommon, and such as the amount of information available on the Nokoue Lake (the largest lake of Benin) is very limited. This information gap needs to be filled for better management of the Nokoue Lake. The goal of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using the macroinvertebrate community structures in Nokoue Lake and the environmental factors responsible for the maintenance of these structures. Nokoue Lake was studied over three months, during high flood period in which time subsurface water and macroinvertebrate samples were collected and analyzed.
A study showed that the macroinvertebrate assemblages was done according to ecological gradients as pH, conductivity, TDS, salinity, chlorophyll a and probably to anthropogenic actions (nutriments). Better than the percentage of insects, the percentage of Chironomidae informed very well about macroinvertebrate assemblages. To assess the biological health of the environment, the Family Biotic Index (FBI) turns out to be more appropriate than diversity indices that do not take into account the intermediate pollution. Organic pollution revealed by the FBI probably affects the aquatic life.

2. 'Structure and Composition of Macroinvertebrates during Flood Period of the Nokoue Lake, Benin' by Hamed Odountan and Youssouf Abou, published in the Open Journal of Ecology, 2016, 6, 62-73
Published Online January 2016 in SciRes.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oje.2016.62007

Abstract:

The Nokoue Lake is the largest lake of Benin Republic and it is also considered as one of the most productive lagoon ecosystems in West Africa. This productivity is decreasing and thus raises productivity
issue for a better management and conservation. Macroinvertebrate can be useful for this purpose. A study was conducted to assess the spatial variation of macroinvertebrates during high flood period. A total of 3892 macroinvertebrates of fresh and brackish water were sampled during the survey. Structural analysis of the macroinvertebrate community revealed that it was made up of 16 orders, 48 families and 66 genera dominated by Insecta compared to Mollusca, Crustacea and the Annelida. Insects were dominated by Diptera (Chironomus sp. and Tanytarsus sp.), Coleoptera (Dystiscidae) and accounted for 57.1% of the sampled population. Mollusca, Crustacea, Annelida and Arachnida were the following most abundant and represented 23.9%, 10.7%, 8.1% and 0.2% of the total population, respectively. The Evenness index of Pielou was higher on the Station 8 (0.91 - 0.97),
close to Oueme River. However, no significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed neither between station nor between month on the Shannon-Wiener index (2.06 - 4.31), Simpson index (0.04 - 0.40) and the taxa number (10 - 27). Macroinvertebrate assemblages and composition were primarily due to changes in water quality dependent on hydroclimatic changes and probably to anthropogenic actions.
This suggests the need for real investigation of the macroinvertebrate biological capacity when formulating conservation strategies for the Nokoue Lake.

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