Biodiversity assessment of benthic macroinvertebrates in altitudinal lotic ecosystems of Serra do Cipó (MG, Brazil)

five lotic systems of serra do cipó, south-east brazil, were investigated in order to assess the existing diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates, habitats-microhabitats, and the available trophic resources. for each river it was analysed the communities of benthic macroinvertebrates and the composition of some taxonomic groups (plecoptera, ephemeroptera, trichoptera and diptera chironomidae): the community with bivalvia sphaeriidae, oligochaeta and ephemeroptera baetidae (being supposed a closed relation bivalvia-oligochaeta based on the process of bioturbation and enrichment of sediment in organic matter) in tanque river; the macrofauna associated to aquatic macrophytes from rivers peixe and preto do itambé reflecting the reaction of the ecosystems versus the quantities of nutrients which originate from the farmlands; the lithoreophilic communities of cipó river; the community depending on deposits of leaves and filamentous algae in congonhas stream; the very rich community of the moss clumps in the indaiá stream. a proposal for biological zonation of cipó river and some comments about the importance of the analysed benthic macroinvertebrates in the biological production of the aquatic communities were done.