Water mites (Acari, Hydrachnidia) of water bodies of the Krąpiel River valley: interactions in the spatial arrangement of a river valley

Abstract

The present study is a discussion of the interactions between different types of water bodies in the spatial arrangement of a river valley, taking into account landscape data. The Hydrachnidia assemblages in particular types of valley water bodies (oxbows, riparian pools, permanent ponds, flooded alder carrs, sedge marshes, and springs) are strongly influenced by the spatial arrangement of the water bodies in the landscape. Moreover, the formation of a fauna in a particular type of valley water body is also influenced by its origin. For example, the faunas of the oxbow lakes and riparian pools would have many characteristics in common, as these two types of water body can be characterized as originating in the river. As many as 61 species common to the valley water bodies and the Krąpiel River were noted. In the interactions between the valley water bodies and the river, the direction of migration from the former to the latter was clearly predominant. Migration in the reverse direction, from the river to the valley water bodies, took place to a far lesser degree. CCA analysis of landscape variables showed the influences of certain landscape parameters on water mites. These should be regarded as indirect influences, but as a consequence of their effects, they influence the formation of specific types of Hydrachnidia assemblages. Keywords River valley Á Landscape variables Á Spatial arrangement Á Interactions between types of water bodies Á Migration Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

The influence of environmental factors on water mite assemblages (Acari, Hydrachnidia) in a small lowland river: an analysis at different levels of organization of the environment

“…Miserendino et al (2011) found a relationship between land-use intensity and water quality, stream habitat and biodiversity, which in consequence affects aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages. Stryjecki et al (2016) found that certain landscape parameters as well as spatial arrangement of the water bodies in the landscape had a strong influence on species composition and abundance of water mite fauna.…”

A Regression Model of Stream Water Quality Based on Interactions between Landscape Composition and Riparian Buffer Width in Small Catchments

“…Following an early work by Kuehne, dated from the 1960s [16], numerous studies investigated the impacts of landscape composition and patterns on stream and lake water quality [17], even reporting that landscape characteristics are critical to water quality [18,19]. The reports evolved from cases where the relationship between the composition of landscape and the variation in water quality indicators was explored [20], to cases where the focus was moved to the spatial arrangement of the landscape (patterns) [21,22]. In the earlier studies, good water quality was generally associated with undeveloped watersheds dominated by forest land use, while poor water quality was linked to human development activities, such as agriculture [23].…”

Water mites (Acari, Hydrachnidia) of riparian springs in a small lowland river valley: what are the key factors for species distribution?

“… Von Fumetti, Dmitrović & Pešić (2017) found that assemblages including water mites inhabiting riparian springs adjacent to higher-order streams were dominated by rhitrobionts. The dominance of lenitobionts in flooded springs is probably influenced by the spatial arrangement of water bodies in the landscape: there are numerous stagnant water bodies with a rich fauna in the Krąpiel valley ( Stryjecki et al, 2016 ). All the lenitobionts found in the springs were also present in water bodies elsewhere in the valley, but in great abundance.…”

“…Descriptions of the study area in general and the River Krąpiel in particular as well as the water bodies in the valley, are given in Stryjecki et al (2016) and Zawal et al (2017) .…”

“…Previous studies of the Krąpiel valley showed environmental factors to be acting at different levels of organization in the environment, i.e., (1) the landscape level, (2) the macrohabitat level and (3) the mesohabitat level; they all affect the species composition and the abundance of water mite assemblages ( Stryjecki et al, 2016 ; Buczyńska et al., 2017 ; Zawal et al, 2016b ; Zawal et al, 2017 ).…”