Land Use Land Cover Change and its Impact on Major Nutrients and Macroinvertebrate Along Wabe-Megecha Rivers Sub-Catchments Gibe-Omo Catchment Ethiopia
| dc.contributor.advisor | Tadesse Fetahi | |
| dc.contributor.author | Abel Feyisa | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-28T11:21:12Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-28T11:21:12Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023-02 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Rivers are a major aquatic ecosystems that are rich in the biological community and characterized by nutrient dynamics playing a major role in connecting terrestrial and other aquatic ecosystems. These ecosystems provide crucial services including fish production, water provisioning, recreation, water purification, water retention, and climate regulation. However, these life-sustaining ecosystem are deteriorating due to anthropogenic activities including pollution, overexploitation and land use land cover (LULC) change. The latter affects the nutrient contents and biodiversity such as macroinvertebrate community structure, abundance and function. These changes affect the integrity and health of an ecosystem, which is evident in Ethiopia such as the Wabe-Megecha river catchment. Correspondingly, this study aims to investigate the pattern of LULC, the nutrient concentrations (N and P), and macroinvertebrate change with LULC types along the Wabe-Megecha River sub-catchment. The study was conducted at 12 sampling sites of four streams from May to June 2022. The global land use land cover dataset includes a 10m high-resolution Sentinel image for the years 2018 to 2021 was used for the change detection. Water and macroinvertebrate sampling was done for the nutrient analysis, and macroinvertebrate composition, respectively, along the different land uses, from 4 selected sites. The LULC change data was reduced and calculated to the specified study area using Arc-GIS software version 10.4. Statistical tests were done at 0.05 significance levels using SPSS V.26, Past4Project, and Rx64 v. 4.1.2 in R-studio. The result shows that there has been a dynamic of LULC between 2018 and 2021. The expansion of agricultural land and settlement was notable. While the conversion of natural riverine forests to Eucalyptus plantations is stabilizing the forest cover, but degrading the natural environment and thus biodiversity. Most nutrients and physicochemical variables showed significant differences (ANOVA, p < 0.05) among the sampled sites. The urban, agriculture and livestock (UAGL) impacted site had significantly (p < 0.05) higher nutrient concentrations compared to the other land uses. A total of 6,009 specimens from 9 orders and 29 families were sampled at 12 sites in 4 streams within the Wabe-Megecha catchment. Order Ephemeroptera, Diptera, and Odonata had the highest number of families each representing a total of six families. The highest number of individuals was recorded in Agriculture dominated (AGR) site while the lowest abundance was recorded in the site dominated by the combined effect of urban sewage, agricultural activities, and livestock (UAGL). Order Diptera was the most abundant order among sites which is recoded in the same number in all land uses except Urban, agriculture, and livestock (UAGL) which is highly polluted from all kinds of impacts. Land use change from forest to agriculture was seen to be a major driver of changes in physicochemical water parameters and habitat quality, which also significantly influenced the diversity and distribution of macroinvertebrate taxa. This work highlights the need to conserve forested areas and riparian zones to preserve the ecological integrity and functioning of the Wabe-Megecha River. Thus, efforts are needed to manage the catchment through a well-integrated catchment management for the sustainable utilization of the resources. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/8725 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | |
| dc.subject | Land Use | |
| dc.subject | Satellite Image | |
| dc.subject | Nutrient | |
| dc.subject | Macroinvertebrate | |
| dc.subject | Wabe-Megecha River | |
| dc.title | Land Use Land Cover Change and its Impact on Major Nutrients and Macroinvertebrate Along Wabe-Megecha Rivers Sub-Catchments Gibe-Omo Catchment Ethiopia | |
| dc.type | Thesis |