Fauna Of Ponds Research Articles

Myxobolus nekrasovae n. sp. (Cnidaria, Myxozoa) is a new species parasitizing the gills of the gibel carp, Carassius auratus gibelio

A new Myxobolus species, Myxobolus nekrasovi n. sp., was found in the gill arch of the gibel carp Carassius auratus gibelio during investigation of fish myxosporean fauna of ponds of Lake Baikal basin. The parasites were studied on the basis of spore morphology, as well as with histological and molecular methods. Mature spores of M. nekrasovi n. sp. are ellipsoidal in frontal view and lemon-shaped in lateral view, measuring 13.84 ± 0.4 (12.2–15) μm in length, 9.73 ± 0.2 (8.5–10.7) μm in width, 6,75 ± 0.1 (6.0–7.6) μm in thickness. Polar capsules are unequal and pyriform, measuring: length 6.31 ± 0.1 (5.4–7.4), width 3.49 ± 0.04 (3.12–4) μm and length 2.88 ± 0.1 (2.1–3.5), width 1.4 ± 0.03 (1–1.6) μm. Phylogenetic analysis with the SSU rDNA gene shows Myxobolus nekrasovae n. sp. as a sister species of the subclade formed by Thellohanellus sinensis, Myxobolus acutus, M. zhaltsanovae that infect gibel carp Carassius auratus gibelio.

A comparison of the establishment success, response to competition, and community impact of invasive and non-invasive Gambusia species

How an invader responds to the novel biotic elements of a new community will affect its ability to invade. Species that are able to cope well with novel competitors might be expected to achieve greater establishment success. We compared the population-level responses of two mosquitofish species, the widespread invader Gambusia affinis and non-invasive G. geiseri to competition from each other and a non-invasive competitor. We simulated the invasion of a simplified pond community by introducing different combinations of the Gambusia spp. into communities already inhabited by a novel competitor, the red shiner Cyprenella lutrensis. We measured the effect of competition on establishment success by comparing population abundances achieved by each Gambusia species in all treatments, and examined whether the invasive and non-invasive Gambusia differed in their community impact by comparing their effects on the abundances of pond fauna. We also used N and C stable isotope analysis to compare their trophic roles. Both novel and intrageneric competition negatively affected both Gambusia spp.’s abundances, but the invasive G. affinis managed to remain more abundant than G. geiseri regardless of competition treatment. Stable isotope analysis revealed the Gambusia spp. to have similar trophic placement and showed competition to cause significant trophic shifts only in G. geiseri. A cascading effect (reduced phytoplankton abundances) was detected only when G. affinis was present. These results suggest that a higher vulnerability to novel competition along with life history traits contributes to the limited spread of G. geiseri in comparison to the widespread G. affinis.

6. Zooplankton community

The investigations of zooplankton community conducted in Belarusian and Lithuanian water areas of Lake Drūksiai in summer of 2011 and 2012 are discussed. In general, no significant changes have been recorded in the composition of zooplankton during different stages of the INPP operation (pre-operational, operational, and post-operational) except for stenothermal coldwater species of the sea glacial complex, whose disappearance from the cooling pond fauna had been predicted earlier. At present, Lake Drūksiai is a mesotrophic water body. Its trophic status has not changed. The lake stabilization process after the warming period has not finished yet. However, the restoration of the relict fauna in the lake is possible from the nearby water bodies containing extant relict species. The prerequisite for that is the restoration of hydrochemical (oxygen content) conditions.

Linking the evolution of habitat choice to ecosystem functioning: direct and indirect effects of pond-reproducing fire salamanders on aquatic-terrestrial subsidies

Shifts in life history traits and in the behaviour of species can potentially alter ecosystem functioning. The reproduction of the central European fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra), which usually deposits its larvae in first-order streams, in small pool and pond-like habitats, is an example of a recent local adaptation in this species. Here we aimed to quantify the direct and indirect effects of the predatory larvae on the aquatic food webs in the ponds and on the flux of matter between the ponds and adjacent terrestrial habitats. Our estimates are based on biomass data of the present pond fauna as well as on the analysis of stomach content data, growth rates and population dynamics of the salamander larvae in pond habitats. By their deposition of larvae in early spring, female fire salamanders import between 0.07 and 2.86 g dry mass m(-2) larval biomass into the ponds. Due to high mortality rates in the larval phase and the relatively small size at metamorphosis of the pond-adapted salamanders compared to stream-adapted ones, the biomass export of the metamorphosed salamanders clearly falls below the initial biomass import. Catastrophic events such as high water temperatures and low oxygen levels may even occasionally result in mass mortalities of salamander larvae and thus in a net 100 % import of the salamander biomass into the pond food webs. Indirect effects further accelerate this net import of matter into the aquatic habitat, e.g. the feeding of salamanders on aquatic insect larvae with the emergence of terrestrial adults-thus preventing export-and on terrestrial organisms that fall on the water surface (supporting import). This study demonstrates that the adaptation of salamanders to pond reproduction can alter food web linkages across ecosystem boundaries by enhancing the flux of materials and energy from terrestrial (i.e. forest) to the aquatic (i.e. pond) habitat.

Zoobenthic assemblages of ponds supplied with biologically treated sewage

The composition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities were studied in three interconnected earth fish ponds in the sewage treatment plant in Olsztynek. These ponds were fed with biologically treated wastewater and stocked with the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.), tench (Tinca tinca L.), European pike-perch (Sander lucioperca (L.)) and roach (Rutilus rutilus L.). Zoobenthos was sampled monthly between April and October 2007. The dominant taxa were Chironomidae and Oligochaeta. Ceratopogonidae and Ephemeroptera were scarce. Taxon richness was low. The total densities of bottom fauna of ponds varied from 3060 ind. m−2 to 9928 ind. m−2 in pond 1 and 2, respectively. Abundance of the total zoobenthos of three ponds showed similar temporal patterns with a peak in mid summer and a minimum in early spring and fall. The fauna of ponds were partially similar and indicated high trophy and impact of fish. The presence of underground springs at the bottom of ponds no. 2 and 3 probably affected the composition of aquatic macroinvertebrate communities.

Měkkýší fauna rybníka Strašík u Libouně (střední Čechy, okres Benešov) a poznámky k fauně rybníků na Podblanicku [The Molluscan Fauna of Strašík Pond by Libouň Village (Central Bohemia, Benešov District) and Several Notes to Malacofauna of Ponds in Podblanicko Region

In the pond Strašík by Libouň (Czech Republic, WGS 84: 49°37'50"N, 14°49'30"E) 14 species of water molluscs were documented by the research executed on 8 June 2001: Radix peregra, Lymnaea stagnalis, Anisus vortex, Bathyomphalus contortus, Gyraulus albus, Gyraulus crista, Hippeutis complanatus, Musculium lacustre, Pisidium casertanum, Pisidium milium, Pisidium nitidum, Pisidium obtusale, Pisidium personatum, Pisidium subtruncatum. The basic characteristics of the community were determined: quantitative composition and dominance. The index of the concentrated dominance modified according to Simpson (c = 0,33) was counted and compared with available data. The pond fauna was compared to the fauna of other examined ponds in Podblanicko. The total of 12 ponds were examined in this region or its closest surroundings so far and 21 species of water molluscs were found in them. The pond Strašík, analysed in this study, is richest in species variety, as it has 14 species, the least occupied are the ponds Splav by Bystřice (2 species) and the first pond above the pond Utopenec by Vlašim (3 species). In the case of these ponds the result is probably due to the fact that they are relatively little known. The species Anisus vortex, Lymnaea stagnalis and Gyraulus albus have the highest frequency of occurrence in the ponds examined so far in Podblanicko, the least frequent are the species Bithynia tentaculata, Acroloxus lacustris and Pisidium personatum. The similarity of the species composition of the ponds fauna was evaluated according to the Jaccard’s index. The pond most similar to the Strašík pond analyzed in this study is from the point of view of the species presence the pond Utopenec on the stream Orlina (8 and 12), which is situated nearby.

Měkkýší fauna rybníka Strašík u Libouně (střední Čechy, okres Benešov) a poznámky k fauně rybníků na Podblanicku [The Molluscan Fauna of Strašík Pond by Libouň Village (Central Bohemia, Benešov District) and Several Notes to Malacofauna of Ponds in Podblanicko Region

In the pond Strašík by Libouň (Czech Republic, WGS 84: 49°37'50"N, 14°49'30"E) 14 species of water molluscs were documented by the research executed on 8 June 2001: Radix peregra, Lymnaea stagnalis, Anisus vortex, Bathyomphalus contortus, Gyraulus albus, Gyraulus crista, Hippeutis complanatus, Musculium lacustre, Pisidium casertanum, Pisidium milium, Pisidium nitidum, Pisidium obtusale, Pisidium personatum, Pisidium subtruncatum. The basic characteristics of the community were determined: quantitative composition and dominance. The index of the concentrated dominance modified according to Simpson (c = 0,33) was counted and compared with available data. The pond fauna was compared to the fauna of other examined ponds in Podblanicko. The total of 12 ponds were examined in this region or its closest surroundings so far and 21 species of water molluscs were found in them. The pond Strašík, analysed in this study, is richest in species variety, as it has 14 species, the least occupied are the ponds Splav by Bystřice (2 species) and the first pond above the pond Utopenec by Vlašim (3 species). In the case of these ponds the result is probably due to the fact that they are relatively little known. The species Anisus vortex, Lymnaea stagnalis and Gyraulus albus have the highest frequency of occurrence in the ponds examined so far in Podblanicko, the least frequent are the species Bithynia tentaculata, Acroloxus lacustris and Pisidium personatum. The similarity of the species composition of the ponds fauna was evaluated according to the Jaccard’s index. The pond most similar to the Strašík pond analyzed in this study is from the point of view of the species presence the pond Utopenec on the stream Orlina (8 and 12), which is situated nearby.

Invertebrate communities and turnover in wetland ponds affected by drought

SUMMARY1. Changes to the macroinvertebrate fauna found in small ponds on a freshwater marsh (Aberlady Bay, Scotland) in 1986, 1987 and 1992 were used to assess the impact of the 1988–92 drought on taxon turnover in pond communities.2. Permanent ponds accumulated taxa over the study period. Ponds that were wet throughout 1986–87 but dried in 1992 lost some of the many taxa associated with permanent water but acquired a reduced fauna typical of temporary ponds. Ponds that were temporary in 1986–87 were dry during most of 1992 and lost almost all aquatic taxa.3. Faunal turnover was considerable even in permanent ponds. Extinction rates were high for taxa typical of permanent or temporary ponds. Colonization rates were poor for the taxa from permanent water, but high for the taxa from temporary ponds.4. The importance of colonization and extinction rates as main predictors of the distribution of species between the ponds was looked at using metapopulation incidence functions, where observed incidence of a taxon can be used to predict colonization and extinction rates. Predicted rates were then compared with observed rates. Incidence functions gave reasonable predictions of observed colonization rates but were poor predictors of extinction, even for taxa that appeared likely to be true metapopulations.5. For the pond fauna, including fugitive species adapted to temporary ponds, whilst colonization may well depend on environmental stochasricity (how long a pond holds water), subsequent survival depends on other, demographic, processes (e.g. finding a mate, predation) rather than the pond drying out.

Macroinvertebrates of a California seasonal wetland and responses to experimental habitat manipulation

Responses of macroinvertebrate populations to temporal change and to management of plant cover and water depth were examined in 12 experimental ponds designed to mimic seasonally flooded (early autumn to early spring) wetlands in Suisun Marsh, California. Ponds were flooded in September 1988. Initially, rat-tailed maggots (Eristalis tenax), brine fly larvae (Ephydra millbrae), and mosquito larvae (Culex tarsalis) were numerically dominant components of the fauna in the ponds, but these populations did not persist beyond December. Water boatmen (Trichocorixa verticalis), midge larvae (Cricotopus sylvestris andChironomus stigmaterus), and hydrophilid beetle larvae (Berosus ingeminatus) were numerically dominant components of the fauna in both autumn and winter, but water boatmen and midge densities declined by March. Amphipods (Eogammarus confervicolus) and three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were introduced during initial floodings in September, and they subsequently increased to become numerically dominant components of the pond fauna by February and March 1989. Higher numbers of adult water boatmen and hydrophilid beetles colonized habitats that had 50% of the plant cover removed by mowing than habitats that had not been mowed (100% plant cover). Since mowing also reduced numbers of mosquito larvae, this approach may benefit waterfowl management and reduce public health concerns.

A new Lower Carboniferous tetrapod locality in Iowa

The earliest tetrapods known are from two or three Upper Devonian1–3 and some 20 Lower Carboniferous localities in Scotland4 and North America5–8. Most sites yield few and fragmentary specimens; well-preserved and even partially articulated material is exceedingly rare. This report discusses a middle Lower Carboniferous site rich in amphibian and fish remains discovered near Delta, south-east Iowa, and represents the first Lower Carboniferous tetrapod locality found in mid-continental North America. The bones occur within collapse-structures or depressions, and appear to represent a fresh- or brackish-water pond fauna. The Delta site contains the oldest well-preserved tetrapod fauna in North America, and one of the oldest in the world. Several hundred tetrapod fossils have been collected to date, with excavation somewhat more than half completed. Specimens range from isolated bones to articulated, nearly complete skeletons of at least two apparently new amphibian species. This material will make an important contribution to knowledge of the mor-phology and interrelationships of early tetrapods.

Effect of Distance from a Source Pool on Protozoan Colonization of Isolated Aquatic Systems

ABSTRACT Triplicate, 30-litre plastic microcosms containing pasteurized pond water and polyurethane foam substrate sampling devices were placed at 10, 32, and 100 m from an isolated, ephemeral pond near the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University campus, Blacksburg, Virginia. A single substrate was collected from each container on days 3, 9, 15, 22, 29, and 36 and sampled for the number and kinds of protozoan species present. The process of species accrual in the pond and the containers was adequately explained by the MacArthur-Wilson equilibrium model. Dummy variable analysis revealed no difference in the rate of colonization among the three distances, but the estimated number of species at equilibrium decreased significantly at 100 m from the pond. The total number of species identified during the experiment decreased with increasing distance from the pond, as did similarity with the pond fauna, also suggesting a distance effect with respect to the pond. Extinction and immigration curves fitted as a function of time suggested that the probability of a species successfully colonizing an island increased as early stages of community development proceeded. Data presented for microbial species accrual in isolated systems appear to be best explained by an interactive model of colonization; the successful colonization of pond species appears to be dependent on the initial arrival of pioneer species, most of which are present in the soil and atmosphere.

Zoological evidence to the origin of flood-waters and their role in vector distribution

The study of the flood-waters revealed that the breach of irrigation channels due to heavy downpour, triggered the floods, as the first flood-waters largely contained characteristic riverine fauna. Later on, the riverine fauna was outnumbered by pond fauna indicating the overflow from ponds, adding to the amount of flood-waters. The flood-waters play a significant role in the distribution of animals in general and vectors in particular. The chief vectors included Cyclops, Lymnaea, Planorbis and five genera of fishes. Pockets of stagnant flood-water provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes to create a future nuisance. The faunal study of flood-waters offers a proof to their origin, which otherwise requires a manual survey.

Winter anoxia — a general feature of ponds in cold temperate regions

AbstractThere are good reasons to believe that in cold temperate regions the whole water masses of ponds with little or no through flow are anoxic during the winter. This feature, demonstrated for Scandinavian ponds of widely differing productivity, must be of great ecological significance for the pond fauna.

A Movable Zoological Station

IN Bohemia, much attention has been given for more than twenty years to the study of the fauna of ponds and lakes, but the work has been rendered difficult by the impossibility of the organisms being examined instantly in their habitats. The transportation of the material a long way has led to most of the finer objects being destroyed. Last year, a little movable station, suitable for real biological work, constructed after a sketch drawn by Dr. Ant. Fritsch, was presented by Mr. Ferdinand Perner to the Committee for the Physical Exploration of Bohemia; and there is good reason to hope that the use of this structure may be attended by important scientific results. There is room (12 square metres) for from two to four workers. The building consists of eighty pieces, the total weight being 1000 kilogrammes. Two windows on the northern side are closed by wooden covers, which, when opened, present two ample working tables. The building-up of the station at the first place to which it was sent (a pond near Biechovic) required two hours and a half.