ABSTRACT

Freshwater macroinvertebrates are used as biological indicators of water quality. The changes are reflected in community composition and abundance. In this study 38 sampling sites were distributed across the Chiquibul Forest. Overall mean abundance and richness was significantly greater during 2017 compared to both 2014 and 2020 surveys. There was significant difference on mean abundance and family richness of freshwater macroinvertebrate based on their sensitivity and/ or tolerance to organic pollution (SIGNAL 2 Band Score) where greater means was reported during 2017 for “Blue”, “Green”, “Yellow”, and “Red” categories except for mean richness on class “Yellow”. Overall, the stream of the Chiquibul Forest have good water quality; where most sampling sites were classified in Quadrant 1 (high SIGNAL 2 Site Scores and macroinvertebrate diversity) and both abundance and richness of macroinvertebrates tolerant to organic pollution were significantly less irrespective of survey period. The observed patterns can be used to generate hypothesis about factors which may be affecting macroinvertebrate assemblage and be tested in future studies. Future studies can incorporate the potential effects of stream substrate, physical and chemical water parameters to investigate variations in macroinvertebrate assemblages.