#0# Acta Biologica 25/2018 | www.wnus.edu.pl/ab | DOI: 10.18276/ab.2018.25-07 | strony 77–94 A faunistic and ecological characterization of the water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) of the Bukowa River (central-eastern Poland) Robert Stryjecki,1 Aleksandra Bańkowska,2 Magdalena Szenejko3 1 Department of Zoology, Animal Ecology and Wildlife Management, University of Life Science in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland, e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Limnology, University of Szczecin, 71-415 Szczecin, Wąska 13, Poland. alekbankow@ gmail.com 3 Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, Institute for Research on Biodiversity, Faculty of Biology, University of Szczecin, Poland, e-mail:
[email protected] Keywords lentic zone, lotic zone, longitudinal profile of the river, synecological groups, species diversity Abstract The water mite communities of the Bukowa River were found to be similar to those of other lowland rivers in Poland. An element specific to the Bukowa River was a much higher abundance of Lebertia inaequalis than in other Polish rivers. Another distinctive element was the very high numbers of Arrenurus crassicaudatus, but this taxon should be considered allochthonous – its presence in the river was due to the periodic inflowof water from fish ponds. The largest synecological group was rheophiles and rheobionts, which together accounted for 80% of the fauna. The very large quantitative share of rheobionts and rheophiles is indicative of the natural character of the river, and the physicochemical parameters confirm its good water quality. More individuals (1,764) and species (47) were caught in the lentic zone of the river than in the lotic zone (1,027 individuals, 32 species).