MACROPHYTE-ASSOCIATED MACROINVERTEBRATES OF HETEROGENEOUS WATER BODIES OF THE VOLOGDA REGION, RUSSIA

Abstract

In august 2018, fauna of aquatic macroinvertabrates from Persicaria amphibia (L.) Delarbre, Butomus umbellatus L. and Potamogeton perfoliatus L. was studied in Kubenskoe Lake as well as in Vozhe Lake and Mologa River in order to compare the phytophilic and bottom fauna of heterogeneous water bodies. Macrophyte-associated invertebrates and samples of zoobenthos in thickens (in total 37 samples were analyzed) were collected. 68 species of aquatic invertebrates were recorded, including 49 species from Kubenskoe Lake, 41 from Mologa River, and 31 from Vozhe Lake. In the thickets of three macrophyte species, less than a third of all macroinvertebrate richness from the investigated water bodies is recorded. The most abundant species were Endochironomus albipennis Meig., Glyptotendipes gripekoveni Kief., Cricotopus gr. sylvestris. By using cluster analysis, the fauna of all biotopes was divided into macrophyte-associated and bottom-associated. The abundance and biomass of invertebrates in zoophytos in most cases is 3–15 times higher than in zoobenthos. In lakes, species diversity in zoophytos is 1.5–5 times lower than in soil. In the Mologa River the species diversity of zoophytos, on the contrary, is slightly higher. In lakes in the trophic structure, filter-collectors predominate. In the Vozhe Lake a high proportion of predators in the biomass is also recorded. In the Mologa River the trophic structure is more various: along with the collector-filterers, scrapers, shredders and predators are represented. In comparison with research of the 1970s, community structure of macrophyte-associated invertebrates in Vozhe Lake has not practically changed. The dominance of E. albipennis was detected in the Kubenskoe Lake and that was not previously indicated for this reservoir. The species composition and abundance of aquatic macroinvertebrates is determined by the type of substrate (soil or plant), while the structure of communities depends primarily on a type of reservoir, and not on a type of thicket.