| Abstrakt: |
The purpose of this study was to assess how the Tharthar Canal affected the composition and diversity of cladocerans in the Tigris River. Two sampling sites on Tharthar Canal and four along the Tigris River were chosen, one before the confluence as a control site and the others downstream of the confluence. We identified 21 cladocerans species, 19 species in Tigris River and 16 species in Tharthar Canal. The results showed that the high density of cladocerans in Thartar Canal increased cladoceran density in Tigris River from 5809.2 Ind./m3upstream of the confluence to 20913.4 directly below the confluence. Whereas, the mean values of richness index, evenness index and diversity index decreased from 0.77, 0.80 and 0.89 bit/Ind. before the confluence to 0.73, 0.57 and 0.74 bit/Ind. downstream the confluence, respectively. Furthermore, the highest similarity value was between sites 5 and 6 which reached 76.56% while, the lowest value was between sites 1 with 2 recorded 67.08 %. The maximum value for the consistency index was in site 2, while the minimum was in site 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
