Macroinvertebrates as bioindicators of water quality: Four decades of development in Colombia and Latin America

Abstract

Entomofauna is the community of aquatic macroinvertebrates best studied in Colombia. Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and Plecoptera orders are the better known in the taxonomy, ecology and their use as bioindicators of water quality. It is necessary to deepen the study of some groups such as annelids, molluscs, mites and dipterans, which still lack knowledge of their taxonomy and autoecology. The BMWP (Biological Monitoring Working Party) index, developed in Europe in the twentieth century in the early seventies, is very popular in Colombia and Latin America, but it is needed to make more detailed adjustments for different regions on the continent. This paper presents a review of studies conducted during the last four decades in Colombia in particular, and more generally, in Latin America. The current state of knowledge of the different groups of aquatic macroinvertebrates in terms of taxonomic resolution, environmental aspects and its use as bioindicators of water quality analyzes is presented.