The relationships between physical properties, water chemistry and aquatic macroinvertebrates were investigated in riffles of four perennial streams in the arid northern Oman. Samples were collected monthly in autumn, winter and spring with a Surber net. Thirty two invertebrate taxa were recorded, most species are widely distributed, but few species with very restricted distribution were also captured. Diptera followed by Pulmonata, Coleoptera and Odonata were the most represented taxa, Trichoptera and Heteroptera were a significant component only in one station (the Fezeh), where the lowest mean water temperature (23°C) was recorded. In the dry months from May to October, aquatic macroinvertebrates were completely absent. In order to summarize the community response some biotic indices were calculated. The highest diversity was observed in the Fezeh station. A seasonal gradient was also observed, with the highest diversity values in January, April, and December. The low faunal diversity was attributed to the high air and water temperature and the hydrological regime instability. A between station and a between month coinertia analysis was carried out, to analyze the response to spatial and seasonal

The relationships between physical properties, water chemistry and aquatic macroinvertebrates were investigated in riffles of four perennial streams in the arid northern Oman. Samples were collected monthly in autumn, winter and spring with a Surber net. Thirty two invertebrate taxa were recorde...