**Author details**

**7. Conclusion**

330 Water Quality

macroinvertebrate assemblage.

Rivers in Tropical Asia is closely related to the effect of seasonal flow imposed by unpredict‐ able monsoon and seasonal rainfall [34, 35]. Several studies have analyzed the changes of benthic community dictated by seasonal rainfall [36–38], including those in Peninsular Malaysia [39–41]. In general, rainfall pattern in Malaysia is much influenced by wind flow pattern during the seasonal period. To some extent, it is also influenced by local topography. The present study indicated that seasonalrainfall has not significantly affected the distribution of benthic communities in the four studied rivers. This study is in line with the findings from Refs. [33, 42]. The anthropogenic impacts were more significant than the seasonal rainfall. However, the EPT populations were seen correlated to seasonal variation, as been reported earlier by Suhaila et al. [40] in Gunung Jerai Forest Reserve. According to Ref. [43], these types

**Figure 2.** Illustrative schematic of the potential interactions between the threats, impact, and the response to the stream

of species react quickly to the changes in environment.

Salmiati1,2\*, Nor Zaiha Arman1 and Mohd Razman Salim1,2

\*Address all correspondence to: salmiati@utm.my

1 Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Technology, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

2 Center for Environmental Sustainability and Water Security (IPASA), RISE, University of Technology, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
