Biodiversity patterns along seasonality and environmental factors of stream macroinvertebrate communities of North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

While there is a substantial increase in the number of studies investigating the biodiversity of the Afrotropical region, the influence of season on biodiversity is still poorly understood. The biodiversity patterns of 15 streams along with seasonality and environmental correlates were explored from 2016 - 2017. Biodiversity variables were calculated using diversity functions in vegan, including beta diversity partitioning. Seasonal variations in biodiversity and community-environment relationships were calculated using Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon tests and distance-based redundancy analysis (dbRDA). While alpha diversity was low, beta diversity was relatively high and promoted by its turnover component. In spite of the clear seasonal variabilities of the region, biodiversity variables did not differ between seasons, suggesting that temporal variation was not a key factor in structuring the streams macroinvertebrates. The results suggest that seasonal variations in biodiversity may be confounded by multiple factors, including possible overridden influence from the regional perspective of biodiversity. In order to establish reliable biomonitoring and conservation programs for biodiversity, studies from different seasons should be considered, especially regions rich in biodiversity