Influence of environmental factors on macroinvertebrate community in 16 alpine ponds at altitude 1129 to 1724 m were investigated. Ponds were sampled in August 2016. Environmental factors, such as land use in the catchment area, cattle access to the pond, the extent and intensity of trampling of the banks, altitude, distances to nearby ponds etc. were observed. Simultaneously, hydromorphological, physical and chemical factors were measured. Water samples were taken to laboratory for further physical and chemical analyses. Macroinvertebrates were sampled with a hand net. Influence of the environmental factors on structure of macroinvertebrate community was examined with multivariate analyses (CCA). Relations between environmental factors and structure of the macroinvertebrate community were calculated using Spearman correlation on ranks. 121.315 individuals were found in the samples. They were classified into 17 families that belonged to 10 higher taxonomic groups. We can conclude that the land use intensity significantly contributes to taxonomic diversity in ponds. The less intense was the land use in the catchment area, the more diverse were the ponds. Moreover, the more intense was the land use, the higher were the number of individuals belonging to the same taxons, mostly Diptera and Oligochaeta. Beside the land use, water transparency and total nitrogen content (TN) were also important factors.
|
