Abstract
The Indo-Burma bioregion, as a global biodiversity hotspot, supports an exceptionally high biodiversity, but freshwater ecosystems are now increasingly impacted by human activities while biomonitoring approaches are lacking. This thesis introduces a novel river biomonitoring approach to Myanmar, an area of Indo-Burma with practically no former experience of freshwater monitoring, by using riverine macroinverte-brates as bioindicators. The studies were conducted in tropical river networks in Myanmar, representing the lowlands (Sittaung River Basin; 8 - 76 m a.s.l.) and the uplands (Salween River Basin; 886 - 1057 m a.s.l.). The present thesis is presented as four individual papers that in concert aim to be an impetus for future river biomonitoring in Myanmar.
List of papers
Paper 1. Eriksen TE, Brittain JE, Søli G, Jacobsen D, Goethals P, Friberg N. A global perspective on the application of riverine macroinvertebrates as biological indicators in Africa, South-Central America, Mexico and Southern Asia. Ecological Indicators 2021a; 126: 17 pp. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107609. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107609 |
Paper 2. Eriksen TE, Friberg N, Brittain JE, Søli G, Ballot A, Årstein-Eriksen E, Blakseth TA, Braaten HFV. Ecological condition, biodiversity and major environmental challenges in a tropical river network in the Bago District in South-central Myanmar: First insights to the unknown. Limnologica 2021b; 86: 12 pp. DOI: 10.1016/j.limno.2020.125835. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2020.125835 |
Paper 3. Eriksen TE, Jacobsen D, Demars BOL, Brittain JE, Søli G, Friberg N. Effects of pollutioninduced changes in oxygen conditions scaling up from individuals to ecosystems in a tropical river network. Science of the Total Environment, vol. 814, 25 March 2022, 151958. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151958. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151958 |
Paper 4. Eriksen TE, Brittain JE, Søli G, Sandin L, Friberg, N. A multimetric macroinvertebrate-based tool for diagnosing river ecosystem health in tropical catchments (the Indo-Burma bioregion). [Manuscript]. To be published. The paper is not available in DUO awaiting publishing. |