Acidic, neutral and alkaline forest ponds as a landscape element affecting the biodiversity of freshwater snails

Aneta Spyra

doi:10.1007/s00114-017-1495-z

Abstract

In recent years, the number of areas remaining under the influence of acidity has increased. At all levels of ecosystems, biodiversity decreases with acidification, due to the elimination of species that are most sensitive to low pH. Forest ponds belong to a specific group that varied in location, a huge amount of leaf litter, and isolation from other aquatic environments. They are crucial in the industrial landscape with well-developed industry and human activity. The aim was to investigate the relative importance of water chemistry in explaining snail assemblage compositions and species richness in forest ponds of contrasting pH. Patterns in gastropod communities were determined from an analysis in 26 forest ponds with multivariate gradient analysis. Ponds ranged in a base mean pH from 3.0 to 9.0. pH has been found to be an important factor influencing gastropod fauna. Neutral ponds support diverse communities, typical of small water bodies. In two acidic pond types, snail fauna was different. Among the species characteristic for acidic ponds (pH < 6) were Anisus spirorbis and Aplexa hypnorum. The greatest distinct characterised alkaline ponds with the numerous appearance of alien Physa acuta. The most diverse gastropod fauna was found in neutral ponds, whereas the lowest degree of diversity was found in ponds with the lowest pH. Current knowledge of pH-associated changes in aquatic ecosystems is still incomplete because anthropogenic acidification is a recent phenomenon. It is extremely important in forest habitats, since they react more intensively to climatic factors and are often used in landscape management and planning.

Highlights

Human impacts have considerably diminished aquatic habitats globally (Dodds et al 2013)
The results of the Forward Selection showed that, among the 27 environmental variables taken into account in the analysis
A total of 22 species of freshwater snails were found in the forest ponds of contrasting pH (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Human impacts have considerably diminished aquatic habitats globally (Dodds et al 2013). Acidification has adversely affected many freshwaters due to the deposition of acidifying pollutants in Europe (Futter et al 2014), Asia and North America (Hall et al 1980; Dale et al 1985; Freda and Dunson 1986; Dangles et al 2004). Surface water may be acidic either through the impact from strong inorganic acids from atmospheric deposition or by natural processes of organic acidity, or both. The emission of gaseous pollutants (sulphur and nitrogen oxides) and their transport over long distances and subsequent deposition in the form of acid precipitation contributes to the acidification of aquatic environments. The acidification of rain-water has been identified as one of a most serious environmental problems of transboundary nature (Singh and Agrawal 2008; Lacoul et al 2011)

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Results

Conclusion