engleski

Cellular energy allocation in stygophilous amphipod Synurella ambulans from the hyporheic zone of the Sava River

Hyporheic zone (HZ) is a unique habitat defined as a transitional zone or a contact between stream water and groundwater. It is located inside river sediment, where physicochemical and biological conditions are different from those in streams and groundwater. Synurella ambulans is a stygophilous amphipod crustacean inhabiting HZ, which is native to the Ponto- Caspian region, and Central and Eastern-Europe. The aim of the present study was to investigate the use of cellular energy allocation (CEA) methodology in S. ambulans as a potential indicator of environmental stress. CEA is physiological marker reflecting the organism energetics, calculated as a ratio between available energy, Ea (sum of total sugars, proteins and lipids, transformed into energy equivalents) and energy consumption, Ec (based on the activity of mitochondrial electron transport system, transformed into energy equivalent). Amphipods were collected from the HZ of the Sava River at two sampling sites: Jarun-Zagreb and Medsave-Zaprešić in October and December 2018. CEA values in Jarun population were not significantly different between October and December. In December, CEA was significantly lower in Medsave compared to Jarun population, which resulted in a lower amount of energy available for the population growth or reproduction. We discuss the possible correlation between the changes in CEA and abiotic environmental factors prevailing in the HZ (temperature, dissolved oxygen, concentrations of nutrients, metals/metalloids and dissolved organic carbon). This study presents the first results of CEA methodology applied on S. ambulans and an important insight into hyporheic processes at a local scale.

environmental stress ; energetics ; hyporheic zone ; Sava River

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