Publication details
Variabilita vodních organismů v závislosti na minerální bohatosti západokarpatských slatinišť
| Title in English | Variability of benthic assemblages along the gradient of mineral richness in Western Carpathian spring fens |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The gradient of mineral richness is the main ecological gradient exhibited in spring fens. Since benthic assemblages comprise phylogenetically and ecologicaly diverse taxa, species richness and composition of groups may response to this gradient depending on individual species requirements. Four different groups were studied in Western Carpathian spring fens, diatoms, testate amoebae, clitellates and aquatic insects. The main aim of this study was to test whether and how different groups of aquatic organisms reflect the gradient of mineral richness of spring fens, and also to compare responds of different taxocoenoses. Diatoms and testate amoebae, which are due to their physiological requirements directly reliant on mineral richness and nutrients, were very closely dependent on the studied gradient similarly like the vascular plants and molluscs. As for these groups the species richness of diatoms also grows from mineral-poor to mineral-rich fens. A weaker connection to the gradient was found for Clitellata, which respond to mineral richness vicariously through a dependency on organic substrate that is determined primarily by the change of vegetation along the gradient. The pattern of species richness change along the gradient is opposite than in vascular plants, molluscs, and diatoms. Aquatic insects, represented in this study by stoneflies (Plecoptera), are influenced mainly by the substrate characteristics of spring fens. Mineral richness is important only on sites with extreme tufa precipitation where specific conditions for the development of larvae are present. |
| Related projects: |