Abstract
The rotifer species present in samples from 180 small water bodies, or ponds, in England were identified and listed for each pond. These communities were used to provide a system of classification of ponds applicable on a national basis, using the program ’TWINSPAN’. Sites were also ordinated using ‘DECORANA’ to identify major trends within the data set. The environmental factors most highly correlated with rotifer community were: (a) conductivity (P< 0.001), (b) pH (P< 0.001) and (c) permanence of water body (P< 0.001). Out of 167 species, 32 were acting as indicators. It is suggested that a pond classification could be based on these species alone.
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© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Pontin, R.M., Langley, J.M. (1993). The use of rotifer communities to provide a preliminary national classification of small water bodies in England. In: Gilbert, J.J., Lubzens, E., Miracle, M.R. (eds) Rotifer Symposium VI. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 83. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1606-0_53
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1606-0_53
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