ASSESSMENT OF THE FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM HEALTH IN THE HIMALAYAN STATE OF UTTARAKHAND, INDIA, USING MACRO-INVERTEBRATES AS BIO-INDICATORS

Bio-monitoring of freshwater ecosystems is essential for determining the health of an aquatic ecosystem. The functional diversity of freshwater macro-invertebrates has been extensively studied. The macro-invertebrate species have been widely used to assess the quality of aquatic systems due to their vast range of responses to contaminants. Seasonal macro-invertebrate population samples can reveal the effects of pollution sources that might have remained undetected by Physico-chemical sampling or continuous monitoring of a limited set of parameters. The purpose of this review research paper is to analyze various features of bio-monitoring, the efficacy of macro-invertebrates in predicting the aquatic system status and the need for research with a focus on recent advancements. This research communication also tends to highlight the entire work performed on macro-invertebrates for the assessment of the water quality of rivers in Uttrakhand. This research article includes a summary of the literature on freshwater macroinvertebrate studies, the related state of knowledge and the development of research on benthic macroinvertebrates. The sources of literature consulted are the books, research papers, review research papers, dissertations and online available research materials.