Assessment of water quality of the Buyuk Menderes River (Turkey) by using ordination and classification of macroinvertebrates and environmental variables

Benthic macroinvertebrates and physicochemical data were assessed for 17 sites in the Buyuk Menderes River in southwestern Turkey for a one-year period between 1998 and 1999. Relationships between macroinvertebrate assemblages and environmental variables were explored by canonical correspondence analysis. Two-way indicator species analysis was used to classify sites into six groups based on similarities in macroinvertebrate composition. The benthic macroinvertebrate communities presented different assemblages along the Buyuk Menderes River related to existence of slight, moderate, and heavy organic pollution. Two new records, Cataclysta lemnata L. (Lepidoptera, Pyraustidae) and Eubria palustris Germar (Coleoptera, Dryopoidea), for Turkey were also found.