AIMS: The aims of this study are to evaluate the effects of spatial and temporal variability of the macroinvertebrate fauna in drift and in the substrate of a mountain stream. METHODS: The study site is located in Achiras stream (Central, Argentina). This is an endorheic fluvial course whose headwaters are located in the southern extreme of Los Comechingones Mountains. Three replicate Surber samples were collected from benthos with 300 µm, 0.09 m² nets. Three drifting fauna samples were collected using drift nets, 1 m long, 300 µm and 0.0192 m². The taxonomic identification of specimens was performed according to the lowest possible taxonomic level. In order to characterize the drifting and benthic fauna, total abundance, taxonomic richness, Shannon and evenness indices were estimated and they were tested with two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). In order to assess the distribution patterns of drift and benthos samples, we performed Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). RESULTS: A total of 61 taxa were identified in drift and 82 in benthos. A 26.3% taxonomic similarity between the two assemblages was observed, according to the Jaccard index. In drift and benthos, Arthropoda presented higher abundance and Insecta contributed with more taxa and it was also the most abundant. The most abundant orders were Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and Diptera. In the present study, Anacroneuria sp. (Perlidae) and Podonominae (Chironomidae) were first recorded for benthic community of Achiras stream. CONCLUSION: In this study we found that the structural organization of the drifting and benthic macroinvertebrate community shows different patterns of variation at spatial and temporal scales.
benthic community; drifting macroinvertebrates; fluvial habitats
