Abstract:

This study was carried out between June and September 2018 to identify the macrobenthic invertebrate fauna of Karagöl and Çiniligöl which are high altitude lakes in Bolkar Mountains (Niğde). As a result of the systematic examination of the collected benthic samples; macrobenthic fauna of Karagöl consist of 30 taxa belonging to 14 families out of 11 orders (Sphaeriida, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hygrophila, Hemiptera, Rhynchobdellida, Odonata, Haplotaksida, Lumbriculida, Trichoptera, Amphipoda) and macrobenthic invertebrate fauna of Çiniligöl composed of 11 taxa belonging to 7 families out of 7 orders (Sphaeriida, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Rhynchobdellida, Haplotaksida, Trichoptera). Except for Allogamus auricollis, Paranais frici and Potamothrix hammoniensis species among the determined taxa, others are new records for these localities. Determining the relationship between diversity of habitats, dominance and population density index was used. According to the results of the Shannon- Wiener (H'), Simpson (S) and Margalef (DMg) indexes used in the calculation of the species diversity and species richness in habitats, the highest diversity is the Karagöl coast station with values of 3.07, 0.94 and 5.54, respectively. According to the dominance (SD) index results, the highest value was determined as Çiniligöl bottom station with 0.23. According to the results of the Shannon (EH) and Simpson (ES) indexes used in the population density relationship, the highest value was calculated as Karagöl bottom with 0.87 and 0.13, and the lowest value as 0.72 and 0.03, respectively. Cluster analysis based on the Sorensen and Ward’s analysis method was applied to show the similarities of the taxa and their distribution in the stations. Accordingly, the highest similarity was observed between the Karagöl coast and Çiniligöl coast stations (0.35), the lowest between the bottom and coast stations of Karagöl (0.15).

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