Chironomidae (Diptera: Insecta) from Sirwan River watershed of Kurdistan (Iran) with new faunistic records for Iran and
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Chironomidae (Diptera: Insecta) from Sirwan River watershed of Kurdistan (Iran) with new faunistic records for Iran and range extensions for the Palearctic region Habibollah Mohammadi 1,2
&
Edris Ghaderi 1
&
Farshid Ghorbani 3
&
Arman Mansouri 1 & Armin Namayandeh 4,5
Received: 4 September 2020 / Accepted: 16 October 2020 # Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences 2020
Abstract We present the description of Chironomidae (Diptera) collected from Sirwan River watershed in Kurdistan province of Iran. This study is part of a larger monitoring program conducted from 2017 to 2018, surveying the freshwater flora and fauna of this watershed. Over half of the benthic invertebrates collected in this monitoring were Chironomidae, presenting the most diverse group. A total of 35 species of Chironomidae were found in Sirwan River Watershed of which 18 representing new faunistic records for Iran, range extensions for the Palearctic, and three being likely new species. Sirwan River is the largest running water habitat in the province of Kurdistan and an important resource for the local and regional economy. These studies help identify the organisms of freshwater ecosystems and provide useful tools for investigators, making better assessments of water conditions and improving their management. Keywords Diptera . Chironomidae . Faunistic records . Kurdistan . Iran
Introduction Sirwan River is the largest running water habitat in the province of Kurdistan and the fifth largest in Iran and is an important resource for the local and regional economy (Pourbabaei et al. 2012). Sirwan River originates in the Zagros Mountains which stretch from north to south in western Iran. The area making up the river watershed is a region with high humidity and precipitation, which creates an extensive network of running water. It is a habitat to diverse and unique fauna and flora in the region * Armin Namayandeh [email protected]
(Pourbabaei et al. 2012). Human settlement and activities around the river and within the watershed date back thousands of years. Recent increases in the number and extent of dam construction (currently around 9, with 3 under consideration) has caused changes in the watershed habitat and altered the biota (Amini 2016; Hassankhani et al. 2019). Due to these increases in anthropogenic stress on the watershed, studies have been undertaken to find ways to minimize these disturbances. The first studies were undertaken to provide baseline data on the diversity and distribution of the region’s freshwater 1
Department of Fisheries Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
2
Zrebar Lake Environmental Research, Kurdistan Studies Institute, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
3
Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
Farshid Ghorbani [email protected]
4
Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive, Peterborough, ON, Canada
Arman Man
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