Summary
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1.
A survey of fifty streams in the Highlands of Scotland was carried out in 1960 to determine the distribution and composition of the bottom fauna.
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2.
Each stream was sampled in February–March, to obtain the spring emerging insects at their largest, and again in July, to obtain the summer emerging ones, by means of kick-samples using a handnet to collect the fauna.
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3.
A short description of each stream is given in Appendix 1 and the composition of the catches of bottom fauna from each strram is given in the tables in Appendix 2.
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4.
A total of 10,430 animals was collected from the streams in the spring. At this time the catches were composed mainly of stonefly nymphs (33% of total fauna) mayfly nymphs (32%) and Diptera (20%). The mayfly Baetis rhodani was the most abundant and widespread animal collected, accounting for 15.5% of the total fauna and occurring in 47 of the 50 streams; the second most abundant and widespread animal was the stonefly Leuctra inermis (11.2% of the fauna and present in 43 streams). Four other species of stonefly (Amphinemura sulcicollis, Brachyptera risi, Chloroperla torrentium, Isoperla grammatica) and two other mayflies (Rhithrogena sp., Baetis pumilus) were also important and widespread. The Diptera were mainly Simulium spp. (10.3%) and Chironomidae (8.8%). The samples from all but two of the streams contained larvae of these two groups.
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5.
The total summer catch from the streams was 32,306 animals. The chief groups were Diptera, mainly Chironomidae (39% of total fauna), mayfly nymphs (23%) and Oligochaeta (16%). The most abundant and widespread species were the mayflies Baetis rhodani (5.6% of total fauna and present in 45 streams) and Ephemerella ignita (3.1% and present in 40 streams) and the stonefly Leuctra fusca (3.4% and present in 49 streams).
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6.
A minimum number of 94 species of bottom fauna occurred in the spring samples and 118 in the summer samples. Altogether 131 species were recorded during the survey.
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7.
Whereas the total number of animals caught increased by 3.1 times from spring to summer the total weight increased by only 1.4 times. The average weight of one animal was 2.2 mg in the spring and 1.0 mg in the summer for the bottom fauna caught by a net of mesh size 12 threads per cm.
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8.
Although sampling sites were selected to avoid any effect of pollution, three streams were included which, during the course of sampling were discovered to be mildly polluted with organic matter and household refuse. Important differences in their fauna resulting from this pollution are described.
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9.
The survey has shown that many species of Plecoptera have a much wider distribution in Scotland than was previously known.
Zusammenfassung
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1.
Im Jahre 1960 wurden im Schottischen Hochland 50 Bäche auf Verbreitung und Zusammensetzung ihrer Bodenfauna untersucht.
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2.
Die Proben eines jeden Baches (“kick”-Proben) wurden im Februar-März genommen, um die Frühjahrsschlüpfer zu erhalten (wenn sie am grössten sind) und wieder im Juli, um die Sommerschlüpfer zu bekommen. Zur Probennahme wurde ein Kescher verwendet.
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3.
Eine kurze Beschreibung eines jeden Baches wird in Anhang 1 gegeben und die Zusammensetzung der Fänge der Bodenfauna in den Tabellen in Anhang 2.
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4.
10430 Tiere wurden im Frühjahr in den Bächen gesammelt. Zu dieser Zeit enthielten die Fänge hauptsächlich Plecoptera —Nymphen (33% der Gesamtfauna),Ephemeriden-Nymphen (32%) und Dipteren (20%). Die Ephemeride Baetis rhodani (15,5% der Gesamtfauna) was das häufigste Tier und kam in 47 von 50 B:achen vor. Am zweithäufigsten war die Steinfliege Leuctra inermis (11,2% und anwesend in 43 Bächen). Vier andere Arten von Plecoptera (Amphinemura sulcicollis, Brachyptera risi, Chloroperla torrentium, Isoperla grammatica) und zwei andere Ephemeriden (Rhithrogena sp., Baetis pumilus) waren ebenso wichtig und weit verbreitet. Von den Dipteren waren es hauptsächlich Simulium spp. (10,3%) und Chironomiden (8,8%). Zwei Bäche ausgenommen enthielten alle anderen Larven dieser beiden Gruppen.
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5.
Die Gesamtsumme des Sommerfanges beträgt 32306 Tiere. Die Hauptgruppen bilden Dipteren, hauptsächlich Chironomiden (39% der Gesamtfauna), Ephemeriden — Nymphen (23%) und Oligochaeten (16%). Am häufigsten und weitesten verbreitet waren die Eintagsfliege Baetis rhodani (5,6% der Gesamtfauna und anwesend in 45 Bächen) und Ephemerella ignita (3,1% und anwesend in 40 B:achen) und die Steinfliege Leuctra fusca (3,4% und anwesend in 49 Bächen).
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6.
Mindestens 94 Bodentierarten waren in den Frühjahrfängen, 118 Arten in den Sommerfängen enthalten. Insgesamt wurden 131 Arten festgestellt.
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7.
Während die Gesamtindividuenzahl in den Fängen vom Frühjahr zum Sommer auf das 3,1 fache stieg, nahm das Gesamtgewicht nur um das 1,4 fache zu. Das mittlere Individualgewicht betrug im Frühjahr 2,2 mg, in Sommer 1,0 mg (Maschweite des verwendeten Netzes: 12 Fäden/cm).
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8.
Die Probenplätze waren so gewählt, dass nach Möglichkeit kein Einfluss des Abwassers zu befürchten war. Es ergab sich jedoch während der Untersuchungen, dass drei der Bäche verunreinigt waren durch organische Substanzen und häusliche Abwässer. Deutliche Unterschiede in der Bodenfauna, hervorgerufen durch diese Verunreinigung, werden beschrieben.
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9.
Die Untersuchung hat gezeigt, dass viele Plecopteren — Arten in Schottland viel weiter verbreitet sind, als bisher bekannt war.
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Morgan, N.C., Egglishaw, H.J. A survey of the bottom fauna of streams in the Scottish highlands. Hydrobiologia 25, 181–211 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00189863
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00189863