Seasonal Distribution of Ephemeroptera (Insects) Fauna and Relationship Among Physicochemical Parameters in the Ceyhan Basin

This study was carried out in 20 different localities in the spring, summer and autumn periods in 2019 in order to determine the Ephemeroptera fauna of the Ceyhan Basin and to reveal its relationship with some physicochemical parameters. As a result, 971 specimens were examined and 17 species belonging to six families were identified. There is no data on the given taxa in the Ceyhan basin so all taxa are new records for the Ceyhan Basin. According to the Shannon-Wiener (H) diversity index, the highest and lowest diversity values were determined, respectively, in the spring at stations 7th (1.456) and 6th (0.173), in the summer at stations 20th (1.311) and 13th (0.341), and in the autumn at stations 15th (1.102) and 8'h (0.457). According to Evenness (E) values, the most homogeneous stations are the 3rd (0.963), 7th (0.973) and 1st (0.945) stations in the same seasonal order, and the stations with the least homogeneity are the 16th (0.529), 16th (0.659) and 8th (0.527) stations. According to cluster analyses, the highest similarities were observed between stations 3rd and 5th in addition to stations 9th,14th,17th,18th and 19th with 100% percentage. Based on the physicochemical parameters measured in accordance with the Surface Water Quality Regulation, the water quality classes of the stations were in high quality water (Class I) and less contaminated (Class II) water. Canonical correspondence analysis was applied to reveal the relationships between Ephemeroptera taxa and physicochemical parameters.

Automated summary

This study aimed to determine the Ephemeroptera fauna in the Ceyhan Basin and investigate its relationship with physicochemical parameters. A total of 17 new species records were identified, and variations in diversity and evenness were observed across different seasons and stations. The water quality in the basin was found to be generally high, with only a few sites showing slight contamination.