Abstract: The composition integrity of macrobenthos community can be used to indicate and predict the health and change trend of aquatic environment, as being widely verified in literature. However, the complexity of sampling at the community level retards their convenient application. Odonata larvae, with an extraordinary amphibious life cycle, are relatively easy to be sampled and recognized among the macrobenthos. The diversity of Odonata larvae and their sensitive reaction to changes of water properties make them a very broad and appropriate bioindicator for wetlands. We analyzed the ecological impacts of the dyke barriers on riverside wetlands and evaluated the environmental indicator role of Odonata larvae on riverside wetlands by comparing the community composition of Odonata larvae in the riverside wetlands of different reaches on both sides of the artificial embankment of the Wusuli River. The results showed that the diversity of Odonata larvae in the riverside wetlands was increasing along the Wusuli River from the upstream to the downstream. Blocking hydrologic connection had a negative effect on the survival and breeding of Odonata larvae. The closer to the downstream, the more significantly the Odonata larvae were affected by artificial dykes. The density of different species on both sides of the dyke had limited variation, while the main difference existed in the relatively large fluctuation range of diversity index value in the sampling sites directly connected with the river hydrology.

Key words: Odonata larvae, artificial dyke, hydrologic connection, riverside wetland.