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Macroinvertebrate communities of karst springs of two river catchments in the Southern Limestone Alps (the Julian Alps, NW Slovenia)

Macroinvertebrate communities of karst springs of two river catchments in the Southern Limestone... The macroinvertebrate communities of 16 karst springs in the Southern Limestone Alps (Slovenia, SE Europe), were studied from May to September 1999, together with the major chemical parameters of the water and selected physical characteristics of the springs. The springs are located in an area of 800 km2, between 410 and 955 m a.s.l., and drain into two rivers whose catchments are separated by mountain ranges up to 2864 m. The Soča river drains into the Adriatic Sea and the Sava into the Black Sea. Springs showed relatively large fluctuations in discharge and small variations in temperature (normally about 1 °C) during the period of study. Seventy macroinvertebrate taxa were collected. Chironomidae (Diptera), Limnephilidae (Trichoptera), Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta), Tricladida (Turbellaria) and Belgrandiella kuesteri (Gastropoda) were the most widespread taxa, collected from the majority of sampling sites. The environmental characteristics showed a great heterogeneity, and there was a large variation in the taxonomic composition and relative abundance of taxa between springs and during seasons. The coexistence of taxa with highly divergent ecological requirements is characteristic of the spring communities studied. They range from stygobionts and spring-restricted species to ubiquitous species. The differences observed in spring fauna in the two river catchments were probably dictated by differences in local environmental parameters and not by the geographical location in the different river catchments. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Aquatic Ecology Springer Journals

Macroinvertebrate communities of karst springs of two river catchments in the Southern Limestone Alps (the Julian Alps, NW Slovenia)

Mori, Nataša; Brancelj, Anton
Aquatic Ecology , Volume 40 (1) – Dec 23, 2005
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References (39)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 by Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
Subject
Life Sciences; Ecosystems; Freshwater & Marine Ecology
ISSN
1386-2588
eISSN
1573-5125
DOI
10.1007/s10452-005-9018-y
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The macroinvertebrate communities of 16 karst springs in the Southern Limestone Alps (Slovenia, SE Europe), were studied from May to September 1999, together with the major chemical parameters of the water and selected physical characteristics of the springs. The springs are located in an area of 800 km2, between 410 and 955 m a.s.l., and drain into two rivers whose catchments are separated by mountain ranges up to 2864 m. The Soča river drains into the Adriatic Sea and the Sava into the Black Sea. Springs showed relatively large fluctuations in discharge and small variations in temperature (normally about 1 °C) during the period of study. Seventy macroinvertebrate taxa were collected. Chironomidae (Diptera), Limnephilidae (Trichoptera), Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta), Tricladida (Turbellaria) and Belgrandiella kuesteri (Gastropoda) were the most widespread taxa, collected from the majority of sampling sites. The environmental characteristics showed a great heterogeneity, and there was a large variation in the taxonomic composition and relative abundance of taxa between springs and during seasons. The coexistence of taxa with highly divergent ecological requirements is characteristic of the spring communities studied. They range from stygobionts and spring-restricted species to ubiquitous species. The differences observed in spring fauna in the two river catchments were probably dictated by differences in local environmental parameters and not by the geographical location in the different river catchments.

Journal

Aquatic Ecology – Springer Journals

Published: Dec 23, 2005

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