Diversity Patterns and Assemblage Structure of Non-Biting Midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) in Urban Waterbodies

Nataša Popović,Nikola Marinković,Jelena Đuknić,Maja Raković,Dubravka Čerba,Momir Paunović

doi:10.3390/d14030187

Nataša Popović, Nikola Marinković + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/d14030187

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Journal: Diversity	Publication Date: Mar 4, 2022
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Belgrade, University of Osijek

Abstract

Urban waters are often neglected in biodiversity research; nonetheless, the number of aquatic microhabitats present in a city and the surrounding urban area is impressive. Twenty-two waterbodies in the Belgrade functional urban area (FUA) were investigated for faunistic and diversity patterns and to assess the effects of environmental factors on the differentiation of Chironomidae assemblages. A total of 66 chironomid taxa within four subfamilies was identified. Water quality at the studied sites, expressed by the water pollution index (WPI), varied significantly. K-means clustering gave four homogenous groups of chironomid assemblages, which showed clear preferences to specific habitat conditions and tolerance to anthropogenic pressures. These groups had high values of alpha and beta diversity components. The main component of beta diversity was species turnover. Waterbody type, water temperature, pH, nutrients and overall pollution were the most important factors influencing the distribution and composition of chironomid assemblages, which revealed clear preferences of each assemblage type to the category of waterbody type and tolerances to environmental pressures.

Highlights

Chironomidae larvae are a species-diverse insect group abundant in many freshwater ecosystems, which represent the main food source for many predatory invertebrates, fish and birds [1–3]
In lotic and lentic waterbodies of temperate regions, chironomids can be one of the most abundant and diverse taxonomic groups within benthos or epiphyton. This is especially true for very productive freshwater ecosystems, where they can represent more than 60% of the macroinvertebrate community [5,6]
Cricotopus gr. sylvestris and Cricotopus bicinctus (Meigen, 1818) were found in various waterbody types, but they were most abundant in wadeable rivers

Summary

Introduction

Chironomidae larvae (non-biting midges) are a species-diverse insect group abundant in many freshwater ecosystems, which represent the main food source for many predatory invertebrates, fish and birds [1–3]. This group displays a great capability of adapting to a wide range of environmental conditions, typically occurring at high densities with a key ecological function in lotic freshwater communities [4]. In lotic and lentic waterbodies of temperate regions, chironomids can be one of the most abundant and diverse taxonomic groups within benthos or epiphyton This is especially true for very productive freshwater ecosystems, where they can represent more than 60% of the macroinvertebrate community [5,6]. Some of the known stressors influencing ecological traits and system functioning of urban waterbodies can be from an extrinsic (catchment) source or created within the flow, such as untreated stormwater runoff, various point sources of pollution, septic system leakage, dams or rip-raps [18,19]

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