Insecta: Trichoptera) in Different Types of Habitats in the Dinaric Karst Area (Central Croatia)
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Ecologica Montenegrina 36: 6-39 (2020) This journal is available online at: www.biotaxa.org/em http://dx.doi.org/10.37828/em.2020.36.2 Ecological and faunistic features of caddisflies (Insecta: Trichoptera) in different types of habitats in the Dinaric karst area (Central Croatia) DARKO CERJANEC1, MLADEN KUČINIĆ2, MARINA VILENICA3, ANĐELA ĆUKUŠIĆ4, RENATA ĆUK5, HALIL IBRAHIMI6*, IVAN VUČKOVIĆ7, SANJA ŽALAC8 & DAMIR RUK9 1Primary School Barilović, Barilović 96, 47252 Barilović and Primary School Netretić, Netretić 1, 47271 Netretić, Croatia ([email protected]) 2Department of Biology (Laboratory for Entomology), Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia 3Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Zagreb, Trg Matice hrvatske 12, 44250 Petrinja, Croatia 4Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Vukovarska 78, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia 5Hrvatske vode, Central Water Management Laboratory, Ulica grada Vukovara 220, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia 6Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, “Mother Theresa” p.n.,10000 Prishtina, Republic of Kosovo 7Elektroprojekt d.d., Civil and Architectural Engineering Department, Alexandera von Humboldta 4, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia 8National Park Plitvice Lakes, Josipa Jovića 19, 53231 Plitvička jezera, Croatia 9Koprivničke vode d.o.o., Public water service company for drinking water supply, sewer drainage and waste water treatment, Mosna 15a, 48000 Koprivnica, Croatia 1,2 equal authors *Corresponding author: [email protected] Received 23 September 2020 │ Accepted by V. Pešić: 28 October 2020 │ Published online 2 November 2020. Abstract Caddisfly faunistic and ecological features were studied at 14 sampling sites along the catchment area of the Dobra River. Adults were collected monthly, over a period of 13 months (from early November 2009 until the end of November 2010), using ultraviolet (UV) light trap and entomological net. Physico-chemical parameters of water and air were also measured at all sampling sites. The study encompassed several segments of caddisfly fauna: the composition, new records, the distribution of all recorded species and seasonal dynamics. A total number of 77 species were recorded, out of which 15 species and four genera were new records for Croatian caddisfly fauna. The CCA analysis showed that the water temperature and the altitude had the highest impact on distribution of caddisfly fauna in this area. The results of this study contribute to the increase of faunistic and ecological knowledge of the Croatian caddisflies. Key words: Dobra River catchment area, biodiversity, distribution, new records. Ecologica Montenegrina, 36, 2020, 6-39 CADDISFLIES IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF HABITATS IN THE DINARIC KARST Introduction The order Trichoptera includes 16267 recent and 521 fossil species (Morse 2020), whereas European caddisfly fauna consists more than 1000 species (Malicky 2004; Previšić et al. 2014a). Trichoptera are present in all continents except Antarctica, with the highest biodiversity in Central and Southern America and Asia (Holzenthal et al. 2007; Morse 2020). They occur in almost all habitat types, however, the highest biodiversity is in streams and small rivers (Hickin 1967; Kučinić et al. 2017; Stanić-Koštroman et al. 2015; Wallace et al. 1990). Caddisflies require habitats with specific environmental conditions in their habitats such as water temperature, water velocity, substrate composition, availability of food resources, etc. (Dohet, 2002; Graf et al. 2008b; Hickin 1967; Previšić et al. 2007a; Rosenberg & Resh 1993; Waringer & Graf 2011), therefore, they are among the groups of aquatic insects widely used as ideal bioindicator models (Graf et al. 2002; 2008b). The Balkan Peninsula is known for its high species biodiversity (Kryštufek et al. 2007; Marinković-Gospodnetić 1976; Oláh 2011; Previšić et al. 2014a, 2014b; Sket et al. 2001; Sket 2002), not only due to its geographical, climatological and geomorphological characteristics, but also as a result of certain geological processes which occurred in the past (Bilandžija et al. 2013). Particularly, interesting part of Balkan Peninsula is 600 km long Dinaric karst area situated from Slovenia to Albania (Bilandžija et al. 2013). Although in the last 15 years, a certain number of studies on the biodiversity, taxonomy and distribution of aquatic insects of this area has been published (Gligorović et al. 2010; Malicky 2005; Vilenica et al. 2015; Živić et al. 2009), including caddisflies (Ćuk & Vučković 2009, 2010, 2014; Ćuk et al. 2015; Vučković et al. 2016), there are still extensive gaps regarding caddisfly biodiversity and ecology. Limnological research of caddisflies in Croatia started in the second part of the 20th century (Habdija 1989; Habdija et al. 1994, 2004; Matoničkin 1959; Matoničkin & Pavletić 1961, 1967; Matoničkin et al. 1971; Matoničkin 1987). Most of those studies have focused on larvae. Yet in order to identify the exact composition and structure of Trichoptera fauna in a given area, adult forms have to be collected for each species, particularly the males, since in a certain number of genera the females cannot be identified to species level (Malicky 2004). Recent faunistic studies of caddisflies in Croatia take into consideration adult stages and were conducted amongst other in the area of the Plitvice Lakes National Park (Kučinić 2002; Kučinić & Malicky 2002; Malicky 1980, 1996; Marinković-Gospodnetić 1971, 1979; Previšić et al. 2007a, 2010), the Krka River (Graf et al. 2008a; Kučinić et al. 2011; Waringer et al. 2009), the Cetina River (Vučković 2011), the Drava River (Previšić et al. 2007b), the Gorski kotar area (Previšić & Popijač 2010), the Banovina area (Kučinić et al. 2010, 2013, 2019a), the Papuk area (Previšić et al. 2013), counting a total of cca 200 species in Croatian fauna. This study presents the results of the research of caddisflies in the catchment area of the Dobra River with the following objectives: enrichment of the current knowledge on biodiversity, distribution and ecology, with a special note related to the DNA barcoding method and conservation biology. Some of the species recorded for the first time in Croatian fauna are presented as segments of separate faunistic papers, e.g. Kučinić et al. (2015, 2019b). Material and Methods Study area. Our study was conducted at 14 sites in the catchment area of the Dobra River, which included eight sites at the course of the Dobra River and six at its tributaries: the Kamačnik River (3 sites = K1-K3), the spring of the Zagorska Mrežnica River (1 site = ZM), Sabljaci reservoir (1 site = SR) and the Kupa River (1 site = KK) (Tab. 1, Fig. 1-2). With the length of 104 km the Dobra River is the longest Croatian underground river, forming the longest underground cave system over 16 km long. The river springs from two sources, at Bukov Vrh and at Skrad, while the mouth is into the Kupa River near the city of Karlovac (Kovačević 2005). Together with the Korana and Mrežnica rivers it is an important tributary of the Kupa River. The Dobra River catchment area is situated in Dinaric ecoregion (ER05) (Illies 1978). The reaches of the Dobra River can be divided into 3 parts: Gornja/Ogulinska Dobra (Upper Dobra), middle course which flows underground and Donja/Gojačka Dobra (Lower Dobra). The natural regime of the Dobra 7 CERJANEC ET AL. River was significantly disturbed due to the construction of the hydropower plant Gojak in 1959. The associated catchment area of the Dobra River was originally 792 km2. However, since the construction of the HPP Gojak, additional 302 km² of the Zagorska Mrežnica River catchment area was redirected into the Dobra River catchment area increasing the total watershed area to 1.094 km2 (Kovačević 2005). Figure 1. Map of the study area with sampling sites which correspond to the list in Tab. 1. Moreover, after the construction of the new hydropower plant Lešće in mid-2010, which is located 12 km downstream from the hydropower plant Gojak on Donja Dobra, the water regime and the environmental regime of the Dobra watercourse has also been altered (Bonacci & Andrić 2010). Canyon Kamačnik, covering 74.44 ha with the elevation between 370 and 600 m, is a protected landscape since 2002. Kamačnik is a 3.2 km long right tributary of the Dobra River. The spring of Zagorska Mrežnica River is a flooded cave, whereby a total length of 320 m has been studied so far. The spring is captured and serves as a water supply for the wider area of the town of Ogulin. Sabljaci reservoir is artificially created in 1956 for the purpose of accumulating the water of the Zagorska Mrežnica River for the production of electricity. Sabljaci reservoir has an area of 170 ha and it is the eleventh largest lake in Croatia (Duplić et al. 2007). Ecologica Montenegrina, 36, 2020, 6-39 8 CADDISFLIES IN DIFFERENT TYPES OF HABITATS IN THE DINARIC KARST Figure 2. Dobra - spring (D1), Dobra - upper Dobra (D2), Dobra - canyon (D4), Kamačnik - spring (K1), Zagorska Mrežnica - spring (ZM), Sabljaci - reservoir (SR). Sampling and laboratory work. Samples were collected monthly over a period of 13 months (from November 2009 to November 2010) using UV light trap and entomological net. Samples were stored in 80% or 96% ethanol. In the period from 2016 to 2020 sampling of adult cadiesflies was conducted at several sites at the Dobra River (Dobra - spring (D1), Dobra - Jarče Polje (D6), Dobra - Novigrad na Dobri (D7)) in order to collect fresh samples for DNA method barcoding. At the spring of the Dobra River at Skrad samples have been taken five times, both adults and larvae with particular interes in finding the species Drusus chrysotus (Rambur, 1842). All specimens have been deposited as vouchers at Croatian Natural History Museum. 9 Table 1. List of sampling stations with short-codes, coordinates, elevation and results of physico-chemical parameters (min-max values). Springs (D1, K1, ZM), upper part (D2), middle parts (D3, D4, D5, K2, KK), lower parts (D6, D7, D8, K3) and reservoir (SR).