Macroinvertebrate assemblages along a land-use gradient in the upper River Njoro watershed of Lake Nakuru drainage basin, Kenya

A study was conducted in the upper reaches of the River Njoro watershed to test the impacts of changing land‐use patterns, from predominantly forest to pasture and agriculture, on benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Stream sampling sites were chosen to correspond to the main offstream land uses, including forests, grazing, small‐scale agriculture, and intensive agriculture. Physicochemical variables were measured at each sampling site, and from collected water samples. Sampled macroinvertebrates were identified, and taxon diversity, richness, evenness and dominance were estimated for each site. Higher mean temperatures were recorded at the grazed and cultivated sites, compared to the forested sites. Higher ammonia concentrations were characteristic of the grazed parts of the watershed, while higher mean total phosphorus and total nitrogen concentrations were observed at the intensively cultivated sites. Baetis and Simulidae composed 65% by number of all the invertebrates collected. They dominated the benthos of the cultivated sections of the watershed, where they formed up to 75% of the observed invertebrate numbers. However, higher mean diversities, richness and evenness were recorded at forested sites, with a few taxa (notably Lepidostoma hirtum, Potamon sp., Leptophlebia sp. and Helodidae) being restricted to these unpolluted reaches, although many other taxa were common to all sites. Our findings suggest that a change from forestry to agriculture and grazing land uses have affected the physicochemical environment of the River Njoro, leading to a reduction in the diversity and evenness of benthic macroinvertebrates.