Diversity and Conservation Status of Large Branchiopods (Crustacea) in Ponds Of
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Limnologica 42 (2012) 264–270 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Limnologica jo urnal homepage: www.elsevier.de/limno Diversity and conservation status of large branchiopods (Crustacea) in ponds of western Poland ∗ Bartłomiej Gołdyn , Rafał Bernard, Michał Jan Czyz,˙ Anna Jankowiak Department of General Zoology, Institute of Environmental Biology, A. Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznan,´ Poland a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: A survey on temporary ponds has been conducted in search for large branchiopod crustaceans (Anostraca, Received 27 June 2011 Notostraca, Spinicaudata and Laevicaudata) in Wielkopolska province (western Poland). 728 pools have Accepted 13 August 2012 been studied and large branchiopods have been found in 221 of them. Seven species have been recorded, including three anostracans: Branchipus schaefferi, Chirocephalus shadini and Eubranchipus grubii; two Keywords: notostracans: Lepidurus apus and Triops cancriformis; one spinicaudatan, Cyzicus tetracerus and one laevi- Crustaceans caudatan, Lynceus brachyurus. According to the analysis of co-occurrence, the species form three groups, Anostraca differing in habitat preferences and conservation status. The number of species shows that the diversity Notostraca Laevicaudata of globally threatened large branchiopods is still relatively high in the region. On the other hand, their Spinicaudata conservation status is highly diverse and in most species unfavourable. Distribution of all species is highly × Temporary water bodies clustered: large branchiopods have been generally found in 33 UTM squares (10 10 km) of 96 squares Distribution studied. However, only two species, i.e. E. grubii and L. apus occurred in more than five such squares Conservation and could be assessed as moderately widespread. Most water bodies inhabited by large branchiopods occur in groups forming patches of suitable habitats which are dispersed among prevailing seemingly unsuitable areas. Sustaining the existence of large metapopulations seems, therefore, to be essential for conservation of branchiopod species diversity. Field observations also bring some examples of human activities unintentionally supporting the branchiopod conservation. © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Introduction studied since the early 1970s and the data on their distribu- tion are scarce. Up till now, 13 species of large branchiopods Large branchiopod crustaceans (Anostraca, Notostraca, Laevi- have been recorded from Poland (Zwolski 1956; Jurasz 2008), i.e. caudata, Spinicaudata) as typical inhabitants of temporary waters (i) Anostraca: Branchinecta paludosa (O.F. Müller, 1788), Branchi- are believed to be threatened worldwide due to the decline in pus schaefferi (Fischer, 1834), Chirocephalus diaphanus Prévost, their habitats (Brendonck et al. 2008). In many European countries, 1803, Chirocephalus shadini (Smirnov, 1928), Eubranchipus grubii some of the previously recorded species have become extinct or (Dybowski, 1860), Streptocephalus torvicornis (Waga, 1842), (ii) Lae- considerably rarer than in the past (e.g. Eder and Hödl 2002; Král vicaudata: Lynceus brachyurus O.F. Müller, 1776, (iii) Notostraca: and Stambergovᡠ2005). Representatives of this group gain special Lepidurus apus (Linnaeus, 1758), Triops cancriformis (Bosc, 1801) attention due their mostly unfavourable conservation status and and (iv) Spinicaudata: Cyzicus tetracerus (Krynicki, 1830) and Lim- because they are treated as flagships of temporary waters. Thus, nadia lenticularis (Linnaeus, 1761). The only species that is redlisted in many countries all representatives of this group are redlisted and until recently protected in the country is B. paludosa, known and protected (e.g. Maier 1998; Eder and Hödl 2002; Král and in Poland from only one locality in the Tatra Mts. and currently Stambergovᡠ2005). regarded as extinct (Kownacki et al. 2002). Moreover, even this The knowledge of large branchiopods in much of Central anostracan was removed from the list of protected animal species and Eastern Europe is poor. On the other hand, recent inves- in November 2011. tigations have shown that much of their remaining European Data on the occurrence of large branchiopods in Poland in most diversity is located in this part of the continent (Brtek and of the cases date back to the turn of the 20th century (e.g. Ramułt Thiéry 1995; Nagorskaja et al. 1998; Demeter and Hartel 2007; 1939) and later reports have been very scarce (e.g. Zwolski 1956). Boven et al. 2008). In Poland these crustaceans have not been Lack of recent data on distribution and conservation status of large branchiopods result in total lack of a conservation policy for this group. What is more, most of the considered species are usually ∗ regarded as common in the country by the authors of popular- Corresponding author. Tel.: +48 61 829 58 49. scientific publications, referencing to the situation reported in the E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Gołdyn). 0075-9511/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2012.08.006 B. Gołdyn et al. / Limnologica 42 (2012) 264–270 265 outdated papers. Since the conservation status of large branchio- Field sampling pod populations in most of the adjacent countries seems to be critical (cf Maier 1998; Král and Stambergovᡠ2005; Dovgal and The field trips started each year in April, when adults of Samchischina 2009), the need for surveys, mapping the distribution large branchiopods were observed on previously known localities of this group in Poland and assessing its diversity and abundance, (Gołdyn et al. 2007), and lasted till late September. The survey fol- becomes essential. lowed the life cycle of particular species. As the occurrence of most The aim of the present study has been to assess the species rich- species is limited to the spring, the search for them was concen- ness, distribution and conservation status of large branchiopods in trated in this period. The potential occurrence of late spring and Wielkopolska province, Western Poland. Wielkopolska – as many summer species was also controlled during successive months. In other European regions – has been long inhabited and inten- the dry summer months (July, August) samplings were conducted sively exploited by man. However, it is still rich in small water at least one week after heavy rainfall. bodies, so in potential large branchiopod habitats. Particular parts Each water body was searched qualitatively for the presence of of this region have diverse relief and numbers of water bodies as a large branchiopods using a hand dip net (40 cm in diameter, mesh consequence of different glacial history. Thus, this region offers an of 1 mm) towed along all the available habitats. In early spring and opportunity to analyse the species’ conservation status with ref- after heavy rainfall, additional zooplankton samples (10–20 l) were erence to natural conditions and human impact. Considering the collected using a plankton net (mesh of 50 m) and searched in characteristics of the region we hypothesised that: the laboratory for large branchiopod nauplii. When larvae were found, the water body was sampled again for adult individuals later in the season. Samples of the upper layer of sediments were col- (i) the conservation status of large branchiopods in Wielkopolska lected from random parts of the pools that were dry during the is more favourable than in most European countries, especially survey to check for the presence of dormant eggs of large bran- those with rapidly vanishing small water bodies chiopods; each collective sample contained ca 1 l of sediments. In (ii) geomorphologically diverse parts of the region differ in species the laboratory, samples were inundated in 15 l of deionised water ◦ richness and numbers of populations at 20 C. The containers were checked every two days for the pres- (iii) some large branchiopods – known to be disturbance depend- ence of hatchlings. If present, they were isolated and grown to the ent – are related to strongly transformed localities. adult stage. Large branchiopods found during the survey were pre- served in 70% ethanol and identified to species level following Brtek (1962). Voucher specimens of the recorded species together with detailed geographical coordinates of the localities are stored in the Material and methods Natural History Collections, AMU, Poznan,´ Poland. Study area Statistical analyses The monitoring took place in the Wielkopolska Province, west- ◦ ◦ To check for differences in large branchiopod species rich- ern Poland (centre of the Province: ca 52 22 N; 17 26 E). The region 2 ness and composition in particular geomorphological subregions covers 29,826 km of lowlands, which in central and northern parts of Wielkopolska, Redundancy Analysis (RDA) was used (Jongman are dominated by young glacial and glaciofluvial landscapes and × et al. 1995). Particular 10 10 km squares surveyed were treated as in the south by less diversified old-glacial (periglacial) plains and samples, where percentage of surveyed water bodies inhabited by hills (Richling and Dabrowski˛ 1995). The central and northern each species was used to describe its frequency. Six geomorpholog- moraine areas are separated by ice-marginal stream valley with ical regions were distinguished and introduced to the analysis as inland dunes overgrown by pine forests. explanatory variables: moraine terrains of the central and north- Wielkopolska is located in the temperate