The benthic macroinvertebrate community dataset from the Shenzhen Longgang River Station in the Guangdong Greater Bay Area

The Longgang River is a crucial flood control waterway in Shenzhen and represents one of the largest rivers with the best ecological and service functionality within the city. Flowing through both Shenzhen and Huizhou, the river's ecosystem serves as a vital conduit for water-land material cycling and energy flow. Benthic organisms play a pivotal role as key components of the river's ecological community. Conducting surveys on benthic organisms within river ecosystems not only enables the rational analysis of water quality variations within the watershed but also facilitates comprehensive assessments of ecosystem health and the integrity of biological communities. Based on historical data from the Longgang River basin in our city and on-site investigations, a survey was conducted during the autumn and winter seasons of 2017. Twenty sampling sites were established along the Longgang River to obtain the dataset. This dataset possesses several distinct characteristics: (1) it is rich in content, detailed in its cataloging, and accurate in classification; (2) it covers a wide range within the basin, encompassing the entirety of the Longgang River within the Shenzhen watershed; (3) it employs a combination of field surveys and laboratory analyses, ensuring the accuracy of the analysis. The morphology of water channels significantly influences the community structure and diversity of benthic organisms. Urban canalization plays a crucial role in preserving aquatic biodiversity. Such data can serve as a fundamental basis for future long-term environmental monitoring, assessments of ecosystem integrity, studies on benthic community structure, flood and tide control, hydropower generation, water supply, irrigation, navigation, and other related research endeavors. Thus, these data hold significant importance for subsequent investigation and research.