engleski

Littoral Chironomidae assemblages of Dinaric karstic lakes

Lakes are inland depressions filled with water and function as drinking water reservoirs or have recreational purposes. Family Chironomidae is one of the most diverse and successful dipteran families. They can be found in the variety of habitats and are thus used in the ecological quality assessment. The goal of this study was to assess distribution and the diversity of Chironomidae assemblages in the littoral of Dinaric karstic lakes in Croatia. All of investigated lakes are situated in Dinaric Western Balkan ecoregion. Littoral of seven lakes was sampled using a standard lake littoral sampling protocol during the summer 2018. Total of 210 samples were collected with more than 26 000 chironomid larvae belonging to more than 50 taxa. The highest abundance and species richness were observed in the Lake Visovac and the lowest in the oligotrophic Lake Vrana on the Cres Island. Cluster analysis based on chironomid species composition and abundance showed grouping of lakes into three clear groups: lakes with increased levels of salinity characterised by presence of the species Chironomus aprilinus, barrage lakes characterised by high abundance as well as taxa richness, and oligotrophic lakes characterised by lower abundance and taxa richness. These results contribute to the widening of our knowledge of Chironomidae distribution and ecological preferences in the lake littoral.

Chironomidae, larvae, karstic lakes, littoral

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