This study was conducted to investigate the long-term ecological variations of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in Deogyusan National Park. Sampling was carried out three times annually from Apr.il 2013 to November 2021, covering a total of nine ...
This study was conducted to investigate the long-term ecological variations of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in Deogyusan National Park. Sampling was carried out three times annually from Apr.il 2013 to November 2021, covering a total of nine years.
A total of 226 taxa belonging to 86 families, 20 orders, 6 classes, and 5 phyla were identified, comprising 177,879.7 individuals per square meter. Among these, aquatic insects were dominant, with 203 species accounting for 89.8% of the total taxa. The number of species was lowest in 2015 (115 species) and highest in 2016 (143 species), showing some interannual fluctuations but maintaining a generally diverse and stable community structure.
In contrast, the total abundance sharply declined to 8,058.6 ind./㎡ in 2018 but subsequently recovered. This temporary reduction was likely influenced by increased discharge and habitat disturbance caused by heavy rainfall and typhoon events.
A total of 129 taxa (135,686.4 ind./㎡) belonging to the EPT group (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera), which are sensitive to water quality changes, accounted for 57.08% of the total taxa and 76.27% of the total abundance. This indicates that the streams of Deogyusan National Park maintain a good ecological condition.
The community indices showed a mean dominance index (DI) of 0.452 (±0.129), diversity index (H′) of 3.366 (±0.502), richness index (R₁) of 3.222 (±0.739), and evenness index (J′) of 0.765 (±0.09), demonstrating an overall stable community structure.
In the analysis of functional feeding groups (FFGs), predators (P) were the most species-rich group (34.51%), while gathering collectors (GC, 39.72%) and shredders (SH, 10.83%) showed the highest proportions in abundance.
Functional habitat group (FHG) analysis indicated that clingers (CL) dominated both in species composition (99 species, 43.81%) and abundance (108,395.2 ind./㎡, 60.93%).
Community stability analysis revealed that species belonging to Characteristic Group I (high resistance and resilience; mean 43.1%) and Group III (low resistance and resilience; mean 37.1%) predominated throughout all survey years, suggesting that a relatively stable community structure has been maintained.
The Bray–Curtis similarity index ranged from 0.70 to 0.93, indicating high similarity among the major streams within the park.
Overall, despite potential non-point source inputs from nearby agricultural lands and hiking trails, the streams of Deogyusan National Park exhibited high biodiversity and stable ecological conditions.
Future research should include physicochemical parameters such as water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and nutrient concentrations to comprehensively evaluate the relationships between environmental factors and the seasonal or interannual variations of benthic macroinvertebrate communities.