Publication details
Vliv environmentálních gradientů na společenstvo pijavic (Clitellata: Hirudinida) v podmínkách stojatých a tekoucích vod České republiky
| Title in English | Environmental gradients determining leeches (Clitellata: Hirudinida) assemblages: the role of stagnant and running waters |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2011 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | In order to study the species composition and habitat requirements of leech assemblages, 109 sites of running and stagnant waters were sampled in the Czech Republic, in the years 2007 to 2010. The morphological characteristics of the sampling site, and chemical parameters of the water and climatic data were available for each site. Leeches were collected by hand, counted and identified. In total, seventeen species were recorded. Environmental and species data were used in the analyses. A detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) revealed that the main gradient in the data set can be explained by physical and morphological variables, corresponding to habitat type (lotic or lenitic); while a second DCA axis reflected the chemical parameters of the water. Correspondingly, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that temperature and substratum had the strongest influence, followed by pH. The second gradient was also related to chemistry. The optima of the environmental variables for the common species were compared using boxplots. Predictive models designed for seven of the leech species revealed significant variables, which determined species’ occurrence and the extent of the effect of these variables. The most frequent significant variables were the type of habitat and the mean annual temperature. |
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