engleski

Terrestrial isopod communities in a small peat bog and surrounding forest in Northwest Croatia

Terrestrial isopods were studied in the Dubravica peat bog and surrounding forest in northwest Croatia, by means of seasonal pitfall trapping in 2008. Peat bog has drastically decreased in area mainly due to the process of natural succession and changes in water level. 149 isopod individuals were captured, representing 7 species. Species belong to six families: Agnaridae, Armadillidiidae, Ligiidae, Oniscidae, Trachelipodidae and Trichoniscidae. Species richness and abundance were the highest at the edge site most probably owing to the edge effect and seasonal immigration. Therefore, edge site embraced both isopod species from bog and forest sites. Due to extreme environmental conditions and strong dominance of Myrmica ant predator species, species richness and abundance were the lowest at the bog. According to our preliminary results Trachelipus rathkii might be considered as a potential tyrphophilous species, since this species was the most abundant in the bog and it was not found in the forest.

edge ; seasonal dynamics ; tyrphophilous species

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