engleski

"Every bog’s a castle" – a summary of chironomid diversity in specific microhabitats of a Balkan peatland

Peatlands represent very specific habitats, formed by accumulation of organic matter, mainly plant origin, sustained by anaerobic conditions. In Croatia, peatlands are rare, small and isolated habitats, thus endangered. The diversity of chironomid community was studied in the Đon močvar bog, located in central Croatia at 130 m a.s.l. On an area of 10 ha it supports a variety of different microhabitats. We sampled four microhabitats in the peat bog: shallow pools, deep pools (>2 m), ditches and a pond, and adjacent creek surrounding the bog. Sixty-one taxa from Chironomidae family were recorded, what included 22 species, of which two new for the chironomid fauna of Croatia: Diplocladius cultriger and Georthocladius luteicornis. Polypedilum uncinatum agg., taxa typical for peatland pools, was highly abundant in shallow ponds and ditches. Highest taxa richness was recorded in the creek (38 taxa) and the lowest in the pool (12 taxa), whilst the Shannon and Simpson indices highlight samples from shallow ponds taken in June and July as the most diverse. NMDS analysis displays a clear difference in chironomid larvae community between the creek and peat bog microhabitats. The differences between the pool and ponds are also evident, but not as substantial. BIO-ENV and PERMANOVA analyses shows statistically significant influence of pH and conductivity on the Chironomidae community structure and density. Fluctuation and extreme values of environmental parameters influenced the diversity of Chironomidae family, reflecting specific conditions of each microhabitat.

peatbog, extreme environmental conditions, Chironomidae larvae

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