0000000000313406
AUTHOR
Andreu Escrivà
Microcrustacean and Rotiferan Communities of Two Close Mediterranean Mountain Ponds, Lagunas de Bezas and Rubiales (Spain)
ABSTRACT We compared two freshwater mountain ponds during an annual cycle by focusing on Rotifera and Crustacea. These ponds, Laguna de Bezas and Laguna de Rubiales, are located only 4.5 kilometers apart and share a similar altitude (ca. 1200 m.a.s.1) on the Iberian Mountain range, in Teruel (Spain). Bezas is near-permanent and dries out only in severe droughts; Rubiales is temporary, drying out periodically. They also show important differences in other limnological traits. Bezas has transparent water, harbors a fish population, and has a dense macrophyte cover, whereas Rubiales has elevated turbidity and neither fish nor macrophytes during most of the hydroperiod. These differences are pr…
Effects of environmental and spatial variables on lotic ostracod metacommunity structure in the Iberian Peninsula
The heterogeneous distribution of aquatic species in lotic environments has been studied little in terms of metacommunity theory. Previous empirical tests have found significant spatial and environmental effects in pond and lake communities, but this has not yet been clearly established for stream networks. We conducted a multi-season survey of mountain streams in the Iberian Peninsula. We recorded GIS and in situ environmental data and collected biological samples to determine ostracods and macroinvertebrates and identified 41 ostracod species, the most common belonging to genera Herpetocypris , Sarscypridopsis , and Ilyocypris . A generalized linear model analysis showed that thermal rang…
Artificial dam lakes as suitable habitats for exotic invertebrates: Ostracoda ecology and distribution in reservoirs of the Eastern Iberian Peninsula
Reservoirs are the most common deep lakes in Spain, as a consequence of water needs and dry climate. Although these aquatic systems can play an important ecological role in such an area with few large natural lakes, they can also provide new habitats for exotic species, which can colonize ecosystems that native species have not explored yet. Here we present our results for a biannual survey of the ostracod fauna from 24 reservoirs in Xuquer River basin. We check which variables affect ostracod presence, test for differences between winter and summer assemblages, and compare our data with previous available ostracod records from the same river drainage network. Our results reveal that ostrac…
Global distribution of Fabaeformiscandona subacuta: an exotic invasive Ostracoda on the Iberian Peninsula?
Although exotic species of Ostracoda have been recorded from various sites in Europe, none of them have a widespread European distribution. Reviews of existing literature, examination of specimens, and sampling in Spain and Japan has greatly expanded the known distribution of the candonid ostracode Fabaeformiscandona subacuta (Yang, 1982). We herein present new reports of its presence in mainland eastern Asia, Australia, and South America, and we review its distribution on the Iberian Peninsula. Although this species is globally widespread, we hypothesize that it is an invasive species on the Iberian Peninsula in light of the following facts: it is not known from other European countries, i…