Life History and Secondary Production of Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) Indicate Disturbance in Two Small Carpathian Streams

Abstract

The life histories and the secondary production of 9 mayflies (Ephemeroptera) species were studied at two sites in a submountain stream (West Carpathians, Slovakia). The disturbed site has a deforested and converted to meadows and pastures catchment and the undisturbed one is a well‐preserved submountain stream with 60% of the catchment covered by spruce forests. Differences in the forest cover and in the thermal regime of both streams were reflected in the structural as well as the functional measures. At the undisturbed site, the total secondary production of mayfly community was more than two times higher (3568 mg DW m–2 y–1) than at the disturbed site (1446 mg DW m–2 y–1). Species could be divided according to their affinity to particular disturbance level. Ecdyonurus picteti, Rhithrogena carpatoalpina, Habrophlebia lauta and Habroleptoides confusa appeared to prefer undisturbed conditions. On the contrary, Ecdyonurus aurantiacus and Habrophlebia fusca occurred only at the disturbed site. The dominant species Baetis rhodani and Electrogena samalorum did not show any clear preference regarding the catchment disturbance. However, nymphs of Electrogena samalorum seem to be more successful at the disturbed site, where they reached bigger body sizes (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Community structure, life histories and secondary production of stoneflies in two small mountain streams with different degree of forest cover

“…Approximately 2x higher values of total stonefly abundance, biomass and secondary production were found in undisturbed stream. Bottová et al (2012) found similar differences in mayfly communities between these streams but values of analyzed mayfly parameters were several times higher. Eisendle and Waringer (1999) found similarly higher values of total mayfly abundance compared to stonefly abundance in small alpine sandstone stream.…”

Formation of groupings of mayfly larvae (Ephemeroptera) in the area of small hydrological structures, in the streams of the Kamienica Nawojowska river basin (the Sądeckie Beskids, Poland)

“…Representatives of most species of mayflies showed no clear preference as to the nature of the development of the basin on the given sections of watercourses. Many species of the genus Baetis shows a high tolerance to changes in environmental factors within the channel and basin (Bottova et al, 2012). Thus, in the facilities of the lower reaches of streams, where the adjacent part of the basin was agriculturally developed, numerous representaives of the Baetis, as well as Serratella ignita, were observed.…”

Life history and secondary production of Electrogena ujhelyii (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae) in a small forest stream in West Carpathians

“…Our measured values of density, biomass and secondary production would be the first published data on E. ujhelyii. The only data on the secondary 322 K. Bottová & T. Derka production of the genus Electrogena from temperate streams were published for the related species Electrogena samalorum (Landa, 1982) (Bottová et al 2012). Other published data are from Dudgeon (1996), who reported 20.6 mg AFDW m −2 for Electrogena sp.…”