Macroinvertebrate composition and distribution in Zigi (Sigi) River Catchment: A Global Biodiversity Hotspot in Northeastern-Tanzania.

Description

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 3,046 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

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How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Masikini, R., Magidi, A., Mwaijengo, G. N., Ngondya, I., Munishi, L., Gideon, H., Ally, M.A., Bernard, C.C., Milola, S. (2022). Macroinvertebrate composition and distribution in Zigi (Sigi) River Catchment: A Global Biodiversity Hotspot in northeastern-Tanzania.

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is TanBIF. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: a3cc6254-e711-40e9-b2fd-2e05ab2b6088.  TanBIF publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Tanzania Biodiversity Information Facility.

Keywords

Macroinvertebrates; Zigi (Sigi) River Catchment; Tanzania; Biodiversity Hotspot; Occurrence; Northeastern-Tanzania.; Observation

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

Zigi River catchment lies between latitudes 4o48´S and 5o15´S and longitudes 38o34´E and 39o03´E with a catchment area of about 1,100km2 (Biervliet et al., 2009; Masikini et al., 2018). The river rises in the Amani Nature Reserve on the eastern slopes of the East Usambara Mountains at an altitude of 1130m and flows for 100km long to its mouth in the Indian Ocean north of Tanga town (Masikini et al., 2018). Sigi River has two main tributaries flowing from the north-Muzi stream and south-Kihuhwi stream. The upper reaches of the catchment area are mountainous, consisting mainly of dense forest interspersed with tea plantations (Biervliet et al., 2009; Masikini et al., 2018). Its lower parts are flat and some parts are rejuvenated comprising dry savannah-type bushes and low trees, as well as sisal estates. Along the coast coconut and palm trees are common (Masikini et al., 2018).

Taxonomic Coverage

This dataset present macroinvertebrate assemblages observed in the 11 sites in the Zigi River Catchment between March 2012 and May 2012 .The main taxonomic groups in this dataset are family, genus, and species. The dataset contains a total of 3046 occurrences belonging to 56 genera, 47 families and 1 species.

Temporal Coverage

Project Data

Although the current National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP 2015-2020) emphasizes the need for mainstreaming freshwater biodiversity information into sector policies, plans, and programs; the lack of accessible, reliable, and ready to use freshwater invertebrates biodiversity (FIB) data hinders its effective implementation by policy and decision-makers in different sectors, and the realization of NBSAP 2015-2020 targets. Inadequate information on the geographical distribution of FIB further hampers decision-making for conservation. This project aims at collating existing freshwater Insects (Odonata, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Ephemeroptera, and Diptera), Mollusks (Gastropoda), and Crustacea (Crabs and Shrimps) (FIMC) species data from northeastern, Tanzania from various institutions and sources, including Tanzania Biodiversity Information Facility (TanBIF), IUCN database, River Basins, Universities, natural history collections, and literature, to create a useable and accessible FIMC database, develop FIMC species distribution maps, supplement the existing FIMC database under TanBIF, establish FIMC monitoring protocol and produce FIMC assessment status (IUCN Red List category) that can be adopted by policymakers and be integrated into decision-making processes by different stakeholders in different sectors. This will be used as a framework to guide the formulation of effective FIMC conservation-related policy and guidelines that will address NBSAP 2015-2020 and Aichi biodiversity targets (CBD 2020), and fulfilling national obligations under articles 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, and 16 of the biodiversity conservations. The long-term project objectives are to contribute substantially to the formulation of a platform where stakeholders feed FIMC data to foster conservation and sustainable use of freshwater ecosystems. This will promote the formation of linkages between TanBIF/GBIF and identified FIMC data holding stakeholders for sustainable monitoring of FIB at large.

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

A qualitative sampling of macro-invertebrates was conducted by the same operator using a 30*30cm kick net with a 1mm mesh size and applying time-limited samples (3 minutes). In each station, the dominant biotope (stones, sand, and vegetation) was identified which was simply the habitat contributing to more than 50% of the area within the selected 50 m reach for sampling. Three replicates samples of macroinvertebrates were collected in the selected biotope. All individuals in a sample were counted and most were identified to the Genus level except a few of them to the family level (Baetidae, Leptophlebiidae, Polycentropodidae, Polymitarcyidae, Tricorythidae, Veliidae, and Hirudinea) and Chironomidae and Elmidae were identified to subfamily level following different identification keys (Croft, 1986; Davies and Day, 1998; Gerber and Gabriel, 2002).

Method step description:

1. We collated all the macroinvertebrates data into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets according to Darwin-Core standard i.e., following Darwin core quick reference guide. We verified the taxonomic nomenclature using the “species matching” tool available on the GBIF website (https://www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup). To ensure data adherence to Darwin Core standards we performed data cleaning. We used the data validator tool available on the GBIF website (https://www.gbif.org/tools/data-validator) to identify missing or incorrect information in our dataset. The two tools used are open-source software.

Bibliographic Citations

1. Biervliet, O. van, Daniels, J., Vonesh, J.R., 2009. Effects of Tea Plantations on Stream Invertebrates in a Global Biodiversity Hotspot in Africa. Biotropica 41, 469–475. Clausnitzer, V., 2003. Rediscovery of Amanipodagrion gilliesi , with notes on habitat , behaviour and conservation ( Odonata : Megapodagrionidae ). Int. J. Odonatol. ISSN 6, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/13887890.2003.10510445 Croft, P.S., 1986. A Key to the Major Groups of British Freshwater Invertebrates. Rep. Pub. FSC. 1986. Davies, B., Day, J., 1998. Vanishing Waters: Keys to common macroinvertebrate taxa of South African Inland Waters. Gerber, A., Gabriel, M.J.M., 2002. Aquatic Invertebrates of South African Rivers: Field Guide. Institute for Water Quality Studies. Masikini, R., Kaaya, L.T., Chicharo, L., 2018. Evaluation of ecohydrological variables in relation to spatial and temporal variability of macroinvertebrate assemblages along the Zigi River – Tanzania. Ecohydrol. Hydrobiol. 18, 130–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecohyd.2018.03.004 .

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