engleski

Riparian habitats as hot spots for Orthoptera diversity in karstic environments

Riparian zones represent highly productive and species rich habitats under strong influence of streams, which provide them with nutrients, ensuring elevated taxonomic richness when compared to adjacent terrestrial habitats. In a research conducted from May to November 2014, soil arthropods were sampled along Krčić River, a temporary river in south-eastern Croatia, both in the riparian zone and the surrounding karstic area. Sampling was performed along the entire flow using pit-fall traps, set in 72 stations in groups of three. From the samples thus collected, all grasshopper and cricket taxa (Orthoptera) were isloated and determined to the lowest taxonomic level possible (35 taxa and 1186 specimens in total), in order to perform community analyses and see how community structure differs between riparian and karstic habitats. Taxon richness and diversity were significantly higher in riparian than in karstic habitats, probably due to more diverse vegetation structure and favorable microclimatic conditions. Similar pattern was observed for activity density, which showed significantly higher values in riparian habitats. Also, karstic habitats cluster together with a high degree of similarity, containing a few dominant species such as Calliptamus sp., Gryllomorpha dalmatina and Mogoplistes brunneus. It can be concluded that riparian zones are indeed very important in harbouring Orthoptera diversity in karstic regions and as such should be especially valued in terms of nature protection and species conservation.

Krčić River, community analyses, species richness, activity density, conservation

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