The ecological requirements of caddisflies larvae (Insecta: Trichoptera) and their usefulness in water quality assessment of a river in south-west Romania

This survey analyzed the eco-physiological requirements of caddisflies assemblages in Jiu River (south- west Romania). The output revealed that the communities are driven by a synergic combination of natural factors and pollutants. Their ecological profiles are diverse and the degree of tolerance is related to a decrease of water quality over a longitudinal gradient, overlapped with natural variation of physic-chemical factors. The assemblage is dominated by hydropsychids, very tolerant to anthropogenic disturbances, and two other communities separated by large distances (characteristic of headwaters and of lowland areas, respectively) that do rather reveal stronger affinities to the microhabitat requirements then to water pollution. Polyhedral diagrams were employed in order to reveal caddisflies larvae tolerances/intolerances to environmental parameters, in order to test their usefulness for local areas and less numerous samples, as frequently encountered in routine surveys