Spatial assessment of land use impacts on bio-physico-chemical parameter gradients along Blanakan River, Subang, West Java

Blanakan River is one of the prominent river in West Java. However, the river is subject to the bio-physico-chemical parameter changes caused by surrounding land uses. Correspondingly, this study aims to develop spatial assessment of bio-physico-chemical parameter gradients along Blanakan River. In this study, bio-physico-chemical parameters including biota (fish), dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, temperature and turbidity have been collected from 9 stations. Those stations were spatially located along river gradients from upstream, middle to downstream areas. Generally, the spatial assessment and data analysis showed a gradient in the values of the turbidity, salinity and biota. Moreover, the result confirms the significant of turbidity gradients in the river (p<0.05, F=13.95301). The mean value of turbidity is higher in the upstream (x=190.93 NTU) and lower in the downstream areas (x=90.66 NTU). Furthermore, the middle followed by downstream areas has high number of fish species from 4 family including Cichlidae, Tetraodontidae Leiognathidae and Mugilidae. The high turbidity in the upstream level is influenced by surrounding land uses, which is dominated by residentials. Meanwhile, land uses in downstream are dominated by fish ponds. To conclude, the land uses gradients along Blanakan River have affected the bio-physico-chemical parameter gradients as well.