Habitat preferences and population dynamics of Ostracoda in a helocrene spring system
(2000) Canadian Journal of Zoology — Vol. 78, n° 5, p. 840-847 (2000)
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- Abstract
- Habitat features and ostracod populations were monitored monthly between December 1995 and September 1996 in three contiguous pools of a Mediterranean helocrene spring. Principal-components analysis (PCA) of the physical and chemical properties of the water showed that seasonal variations were minor in the site closest to the source (pool 1). Conversely, the site the most distant from the source (pool 3) had the greatest variation in temperature and oxygen and calcium contents. Differences in limnological factors, especially the equilibrium system of carbonates, among sites were also clear from the results obtained with PCA. The cosmopolitan ostracod Cypridopsis vidua predominated in pool 1, where variations in oxygen content and temperature were minimal, and showed a univoltine reproductive pattern. The crenophilous species Potamocypris villosa and Herpetocypris intermedia were the most abundant ostracods at the other two sites, where the development of filamentous algae and Characeae produced a high oxygen concentration and an increase in calcium carbonate precipitation. The latter two species both produced two generations per year. The small size of springs and their position between interstitial and surface waters make them excellent systems for the study of ostracod ecology and the influences of environmental factors upon their life-history traits.
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Mezquita, F., Sanz-Brau, A., & Wansard, G. (2000). Habitat preferences and population dynamics of Ostracoda in a helocrene spring system. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 78(5), 840-847. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-78-5-840 (Original work published 2000)