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The Contribution of Gastropod Biomass in Macrobenthic Communities of a Karstic River
Author(s) -
Habdija Ivan,
Lajtner Jasna,
Belinić Ines
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
internationale revue der gesamten hydrobiologie und hydrographie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 0020-9309
DOI - 10.1002/iroh.19950800113
Subject(s) - karst , biomass (ecology) , fishery , oceanography , ecology , environmental science , geography , geology , biology , archaeology
This study evaluated the standing crop biomass of freshwater snails and its spatial distribution according to four substrate types (boulders, cobbles, gravel covered with periphyton and gravel covered with macrophytes). The study site, in the Kupa River of the NW Dinarid area of Croatia, is in a karstic region. Depending on habitat, the gastropod wet biomass varied from 6.4% to 43.8% of the total macroinvertebrate biomass per unit area. The gastropods are the dominant component of biomass on boulder substrates in the upper region of the river, and on gravel substrates covered with macrophytes, in the lower course. It was found that gastropods are also the dominant component of the functional group of scrapers. The average annual gastropod biomass constitutes more than 80% of scrapers at sampling sites in the upper and lower regions of the river.