Impacts of agricultural land use on stream benthic macroinvertebrates in tributaries of the Mekong River, northeast Thailand

Ecological impacts of non-intensive agricultural activities on stream community, especially inheadwater streams adjacent to conserved areas, are poorly known in Thailand. We investigated theimpacts of non-intensive agricultural activities on stream habitat characteristics and benthicmacroinvertebrate community in the headwater streams, tributaries of the Mekong River, northeastThailand. We compared the streams running through forests in National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuariesand those through agricultural areas. Twenty kick samples of benthic macroinvertebrates werecollected using a D-frame dipnet (0.3 m wide, 450 μm mesh size) from each sampling site. Sixteenphysicochemical parameters of stream characteristics were measured. The results suggested that thisdisturbance had an impact on stream habitats more than its community. Agricultural land use alteredthe streams to be wider, deeper, and more discharged with less percentage of riparian coverage andhigh water temperature. Benthic macroinvertebrate composition did not differ in both areas, butintolerant benthic fauna decreased, while tolerant taxa were predominant and more abundant in theagricultural areas. In this study, water velocity and water temperature are the major importantvariables related to the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates.