Development of lake macroinvertebrate-based multimetric index for monitoring ecological health in North Central Nigeria.

ABSTRACT

The use of organisms like macroinvertebrates in developing bioassessment tools, such as multimetric indices (MMIs), is gaining global recognition in monitoring the health status of lakes. The transition from traditional methods of physico-chemical parameters is due to the financial and time costs involved in their analysis while failing to provide accurate early warning signals on ecosystem conditions. Currently, there is scanty information on the use of MMIs in the conservation and management of lakes in Nigeria. This study aimed at developing a macroinvertebrate-based MMI to assess the ecological status of lakes in North Central Nigeria. The study was conducted on Tagwai and Old Gawu Lakes, from April to October 2022. Sampling sites were clustered based on organic pollution and categorized into reference (four) and impaired (four) sites. Out of 54 macroinvertebrate-based candidate metrics, only five were selected after discriminatory, stability, and redundancy tests (performed using R software). The final metrics were abundance of Ephemeroptera + Trichoptera; abundance of Coleoptera + Ephemeroptera; Gastropoda richness; Shannon Wiener index; and percentages of shredders + predators + scrapers, hereafter referred to as North Central Nigeria-Lakes Multimetric Index (NCN-LMMI). The NCN-LMMI values ranged as follows 21-25, 16-20, 11-15, and 5-10 corresponding to categories I, II, III, and IV for water quality, as indications of good, fair, poor, and very poor ecological status of the lake, respectively. The developed NCN-LMMI will be a useful tool for aquatic resource managers and environmentalists to assess the ecological condition of lakes, mainly the North Central Nigeria municipal lakes.