Abstract
Many studies emphasized the role that water mites play within the invertebrate communities of spring ecosystems, regarding species diversity and its significance within the crenal food web, as well as the specific preferences water mites exhibit towards spring typology. In pristine natural springs with permanent flow, water mites are nearly always present and usually display high diversity. This study aimed to determine whether significant differences in water mite assemblages between rheocrene (river-forming springs with dominant riffle habitats) and limnocrene (lake-forming springs with dominant pool habitats) karst springs could be detected in terms of species richness, diversity and abundance, but also in different ratios of specific synecological groups: crenobiont (exclusively found in springs), crenophilous (associated with springs) and stygophilous (associated with groundwater) water mite taxa. Our research was carried out on four limnocrenes and four rheocrenes in the Dinaric karst region of Croatia. Seasonal samples (20 sub-samples per sampling) were taken at each spring with a 200-µm net, taking into consideration all microhabitat types with coverage of at least 5%. Water mite abundance was found not to differ between morphological spring types. Significantly higher values of species richness and diversity indices were found in rheocrenes compared to limnocrenes, like those usually reported for this type of springs. However, unlike the studies previously reported, in this case, the higher shares of crenophilous and crenobiont water mite individuals were found in limnocrenes. The differences between stygophilous water mite taxa ratios among spring morphotypes were not statistically significant, indicating that the degree of the groundwater/surface water interaction (and water mite interaction therein) does not seem to be directly influenced by spring morphotype. Within this research, 40% of identified water mite species (eight out of twenty) were recorded for the first time in Croatia, thus highlighting again a huge gap in water mite knowledge of karst springs.
Highlights
Springs are unique and complex ecosystems that house an array of different synecological groups of invertebrate species: from euryvalent generalist species, to highly specialized stenovalent crenobiont species, as well as species that cohabitate between groundwater/surface water and aquatic/terrestrial habitats [1,2,3,4]
We focused on limnocrene and rheocrene karst springs of Croatia
A total of 20 water mite species was determined in this study, eight of which are recoded for the first time in Croatia: Atractides latipalpis, A. walteri, Lethaxona cavifrons, Ljania macilenta, Partnunia steinmanni, Sperchon hibernicus, S. thienemanni and S. vaginosus
Summary
Springs are unique and complex ecosystems that house an array of different synecological groups of invertebrate species: from euryvalent generalist species, to highly specialized stenovalent crenobiont species (exclusively found in springs), as well as species that cohabitate between groundwater/surface water and aquatic/terrestrial habitats [1,2,3,4]. Karst springs differ from other spring types usually by Diversity 2020, 12, 316; doi:10.3390/d12090316 www.mdpi.com/journal/diversity. We focused on limnocrene and rheocrene karst springs of Croatia. These springs mainly differ in water retention time and/or flow velocity that influence an array of environmental parameters [7]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
