FAUNA OF OLIGOCHAETA IN THE HIGH-MOUNTAIN LAKES OF MT. SISTEVICA,

Nebojsa Zivic 1, Branko Miljanovic2, Vera Vukanic3

1Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Priština, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia 2Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Novi Sad, Serbia 3State University Novi Pazar, Department for bio-chemistry and medical sciences, Serbia Email: [email protected]

Abstract:

Sistevac mountain joins the Mt. Sar-planina massif at north-west. The lake is located at its southeastern side, in the foothills at 1720 m above sea level. The length of the lake is 25 m, width 15 m and water level 30 cm. There are no feeding rivers or streams, so the lake gets its water from thawed snow. The bottom of the lake is covered in peat. There were 5 recorded species of Oligochaeta: Stylodrilus lemani, Spirosperma velutinus, S. ferox, Psammoryctides albicola, Isochaetides michaelseni. Fauna Oligochaeta in investigations lake are characterized by low abundance.

Key words: High-mountain lakes, Oligochaeta, Mt. ŠiŠstevica

Introduction

The mountains of the southwestern part of the geographic region and Metohija are rich in aquatic ecosystems. The area is dominated by Šar Planina massif, very rich in water sources in form of numerous springs, streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. The natural lakes are particularly interesting, as they have some of the greatest altitudes of all lakes in Balkan Peninsula. There are over 90 natural lakes, including 70 glacial and 20 nivacial ones (Ćukić,1983). This massif also includes Mt. Šištavica. However, the aquatic ecosystems of this area are very poorly studied. The first records are included in papers by Urošević (Urošević,1994;1997a;1997b;1997c;1997d) who performed algological studies of lakes and watercourses of Šar Planina. The peat bog associations in the natural lakes of Šar Planina were studied from the floristic standpoint by Randjelović (1997). The high-mountain aquatic ecosystems of this region were not previously studied from the faunistic standpoint. The studies of invertebrate fauna of Đeravička Lakes at Mt. Prokletije were started by Živić (1996) as the first zoological studies of high-mountain lakes in this area. These studies were continued by inclusion of high-mountain natural lakes at Mt. Šištavica, with the goal of determining the distribution and diversity of Oligochaeta fauna.

Study area

Mt. Šištevica is situated in the extreme southeast of the geographic area of Kosovo and Metohija, as a part of Šar Planina mountain massif (Fig.1). Several small lakes were studied at this mountain. The Oligochaeta fauna was recorded only in the lake situated at the foothills of the southeastern side of the mountain, on a gentle slope at 1720 m above sea level. The studied Šištevačko Lake is 25 m long, 15 m wide, and 30-60 cm deep. The shore and the lake are covered in deep peat vegetation, forming thick sediments, while the bottom of the lake a deep layer of mid. This lake has no tributaries and gets its water from thawed snow.

BALWOIS 2010 – Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia – 25, 29 May 2010 1 Figure 1. Position of mountain and lakes Šištavica

Methods

The expeditions of the hydrobiological research of high-mountain aquatic ecosystems of Mt. Šar Planina massif were performed in summer season, in period August 28th-September 5th 1996 and August 25th-30th 1997. The collected macroinvertebrate animals included certain individuals of Oligochaeta fauna. Due to the nature of lacustrine substrate the samples for qualitative analysis were collected by various methods (Surber’s net, hand picking, bottom scraping etc.). All the material was conserved at the collection site in 4% formaldehyde. The Oligochaeta specimens were later moved to 70% ethanol and conserved in the laboratories of the Natural-Science Faculty at Priština. The identification of taxa of Oligochaeta fauna was performed in the laboratories of Science-Mathematical Faculty in Novi Sad, where the material was stored in the collection of the Biology Institute.

BALWOIS 2010 – Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia – 25, 29 May 2010 2 Results and discussion

The aquatic ecosystems of high-mountain regions are characterized by special ecological conditions. The characteristic biocenoses with specific compositions formed during the long process of historical and geological development (Apfelbeck 1896; Borner 1911; Ivanović 1970). The faunistic studies have shown that high-mountain aquatic ecosystems are characterized by a small number of species, including many endemics (Jakvočev et al. 1995; Marinković-Gospodnetić 1979; Radovanović 1957). The substrate of the studied Šištevačko Lake is overgrown with thick macrophytic vegetation, turning certain parts of the lake into a peat bog. In contrast to Northern and Central and central Balkans, the peat bogs of Šar Planina massif include the species of peat vegetation of Arcto-Alpine range type. This indicates that the peat bogs of this mountain massif have originated as glacial lakes. They are dominated by vegetation belonging to alliance Carcion cannescentis-nigrae, and the association with the largest surface area is Eriophoro-Caricetum echinatae (Ranđelović et al.,1997). The Oligochaeta fauna developing in these conditions is poor in species, including only five species from two families (Table 1). These species are found in lowland rivers in the territory of Kosovo (Živić et al.,2007)

Table 1. Composition of the fauna Oligochaeta Fam. Lumbriculidae Tatal number Stylodrilus lemani (Grube, 1879) 44 Fam. Tubificidae Spirosperma velutinus (Grube, 1879) 3 Spirosperma ferox (Eisen, 1879) 3 Psammoryctides albicola Michaelsen,1901 4 Isochaeta michaelseni Lastockin,1936 2

The family Tubificidae includes four species from three genera, while family Lumbriculidae is represented by only one species. The smaller diversity and abundance of Oligochaeta community is also characteristic for high-mountain ecosystems in other areas (Dumnacka et al. 1994;1998; 2002; 2007; Kownacki at al. 1997; 2000). The greatest diversity in the Oligochaeta fauna of the studied lake was presented by family Tubificidae with 4 species. A similar composition was also recorded in the high-mountain lakes of Tureska (Yõldõz et al. 2005b) and Bulgaria (Uzunov et al. 2000a), while in the glacial lakes and streams in mountains of Central Europe the dominant family was Enchitridae (Lenconi, 2004). The tubificid species Isochaetides michaelseni and the lumbriculid species Stylodrilus lemani represent a special feature of Šištevačko Lake, as they were not recorded in other high-mountain lakes of the Balkans (Uzunov et al. 2000b, 2000c; Yõldõz et al., 2005a). It seems that the lakes with macrophytic vegetation at the higher altitudes have conditions suitable for development of Oligochaeta fauna, which was also recorded in the lakes at the other mountains of Balkan Peninsula (Uzunov et al., 2000b, 2000c; Yõldõz et al., 2007). When the results were compared with the Oligochaeta fauna of Djeracička Lakes at the nearby Prokletije Mts (Živić et al.,1996), there were no similarities due to the pronounced differences in substrate.

Conclusions

The community of Oligochaeta at Šištevačko Lake included five species from four genera and two families. The family Tubificidae was represented by genus Spirosperma with two species: S. velutinus and S. ferox, as well as by the species Psammoryctides albicola and Family Lumbriculidae was represented by the species. Species Isochaeta michaelseni and Stylodrilus lemani represent a specific feature of Šištevačko Lake and they were not recorded in the other high-mountain lakes of the Balkans.

References

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