Biologia 64/1: 88—96, 2009 Section Botany DOI: 10.2478/s11756-009-0006-x
The epiphytic communities of various ecological types of aquatic vegetation of five pastoral ponds
Beata Messyasz1, Natalia Kuczynska-Kippen´ 2 &BarbaraNagengast2
1Department of Hydrobiology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89,PL-61-614 Pozna´n, Poland; e-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Water Protection, Institute of Environmental Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89,PL- 61-614 Pozna´n, Poland; e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Five small water bodies located within the agricultural region of Wielkopolska (west Poland) underwent inves- tigation. Periphyton samples were collected from various macrophyte habitats representing rush vegetation (in five water bodies), submerged aquatic plants (in three) and nymphaeids (in one): Pal˛edzie – Ceratophyllum demersum, Potamogeton crispus, Typha latifolia; Batorowo – Phragmites australis;Piotrowo–Potamogeton natans, Ceratophyllum submersum, Ty- pha latifolia; Tarnowo Podgórne – Typha latifolia;D˛abrówka – Zannichellia palustris, Potamogeton pectinatus, Phragmites australis. The main goal of the study was to determine the composition and abundance of the periphytic communities inhabiting various types of rush and water vegetation of five water bodies located within a mid-field landscape area. Diatoms such as Achnanthidium minutissimum, Amphora ovalis, Cocconeis placentula orNavicula cincta revealed signifi- cantly higher densities in the zone of elodeids, while green algae prevailed among nymphaeids. As a result of this study it was found that the epiphytic algae were characterised by much lower diversity in respect to a specific water body, though much greater diversity was observed in its relation to the type of substratum. Two types of habitats were distinguished – the first of simple build (helophytes and nympheids) and the second containing the complicated architecture of plant stems (elodeids). Key words: aquatic vegetation; diatoms; green algae; periphyton; pastoral pond
Introduction community within a water body. Among these are: the hydromacrophyte habitat which constitutes a vast sub- Small water bodies play an important role in the agri- strate for the growth of periphytic communities, espe- cultural landscape. They support biological diversity cially epiphytic algae (Gons 1979), and which may differ and the local bank of plant and animal genes. They in stand density (stated as the stem length per 1 L of maintain hydrological functioning which influences the water), biomass (dry mass L−1) and volume (infested retention of surface waters, and they serve as a reservoir volume L−1), the percentage of macrophyte cover or the of water for the surrounding areas as well as biogeo- morphological build of particular plant species. The ex- chemical barriers. Ponds are unstable habitats of dif- panding macrophyte density, through the enlargement ferentiated physical-chemical parameters. This is due of the possible substrata surface, may increase the total to their small depth, ecotonal character (the impact of periphyton biomass (Pieczy´nska 1976). water and terrestrial environments) and the patchiness On the other hand, epiphytic communities colonis- of the macrophytes inhabiting them. This habitat vari- ing the submerged parts of macrophytes may negatively ation within a single pond influences the differentiation affect the growth of aquatic vegetation since this can re- of its inhabiting organisms, including periphyton. Thus strict the degree of the light that reaches the plant sur- the aim of the study was to determine the structure and face (Ondok 1978) and may also limit the diffusion of abundance of the periphytic communities of the differ- some nutrients, including carbon (Scheffer 2001). More- entiated kinds of rush and water vegetation of five pas- over, periphyton may be an essential part of the source toral water bodies. The analysis concerned the variation of food for a variety of freshwater organisms inhabiting in the density and biomass of particular groups of phy- the littoral zone of lakes or ponds. The main compo- toplankton as well as of particular species. Macrophytes nent of this layer of organisms, overgrowing underwater also constitute a base for the growth of periphytic com- parts of the substratum, is usually epiphytic (i.e. ses- munities, both plant-associated invertebrates and algae sile, attached) algae, which are often accompanied by (Duggan 2001; Wetzel 2001). There are a number of a number of bacteria and protozoans (Crowder et al. factors that may affect the structure of a periphytic 1998; Degans & De Meester 2002). However, periphy-