Abstract: With the development of agricultural activities, some fishponds once used for agriculture have been abandoned, which are habitats suitable for aquatic organisms. We investigated habitat structure, water quality and aquatic macroinvertebrate community of four abandoned ponds and four fishponds (control groups) in Liangping District of Chongqing, to understand the characteristics of the special habitat and community structure of the assemblages. The results showed that the aquaculture of the fishponds was higher in water nutrient concentration and lower in the coverage of aquatic macrophytes, thus reducing species richness and density of macroinvertebrates. The abandoned ponds were characterized by lower nutrient concentration, less predation and competition pressure, more abundant aquatic macrophytes, supporting more species richness and density of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Thirty-nine species of aquatic macroinvertebrates were recorded in this study, including 33 species in the abandoned ponds and 19 species in the fishponds. The assemblages were dominated by aquatic insects, followed by Gastropoda. Among the aquatic macroinvertebrates, Gastropoda and Odonata had a positive correlation with the coverage of macrophytes but a negative correlation with nutrient concentration. The results can provide scientific basis for assessing regional biodiversity.

Key words: aquatic macroinvertebrate, abandoned pond, biodiversity.