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Relation between macroinvertebrate life strategies and habitat traits in Mediterranean salt marsh ponds (Empordà wetlands, NE Iberian Peninsula)

  • Ecology of European Ponds
  • Chapter
Book cover Pond Conservation in Europe

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology 210 ((DIHY,volume 210))

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Abstract

The influence of water permanence and high intra- and inter-annual hydrological variability on macrobenthos (organisms >1 mm) was studied using a taxonomical and a functional approach. The study was carried out in a Mediterranean salt marsh. Monthly samples of macrobenthic fauna were collected during two consecutive hydroperiods from six ponds with different water permanence (temporary, semi-permanent and permanent waters). Organisms were assigned to five functional response groups based on life-strategies according to their capacity to survive desiccation events, their dispersion capability and the necessity of water for their reproduction. Results from both approaches showed that the benthic community was more related to pond type than to intra- and inter-annual variability. The second aim was to analyse to which extent patterns in functional groups were determined by the existence of succession patterns or to environmental variability. In this sense, a clear succession pattern was not observed. In contrast, in most of the functional groups (4 out of 5), species within each functional group showed similar responses to water fluctuations. However, species of the fifth functional group, which comprised species without any particular adaptation to desiccation survival or avoidance, showed different responses to water level fluctuations.

Guest editors: R. Céréghino, J. Biggs, B. Oertli & S. Declerck

The ecology of European ponds: defining the characteristics of a neglected freshwater habitat

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Aquatic Ecology, University of Girona, Campus de Montilivi, Facultat de Ciències, 17071, Girona, Spain

    Stéphanie Gascón, Dani Boix, Jordi Sala & Xavier D. Quintana

Authors
  1. Stéphanie Gascón
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  2. Dani Boix
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  3. Jordi Sala
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  4. Xavier D. Quintana
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stéphanie Gascón .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland, Geneva, Switzerland

    Beat Oertli

  2. University of Toulouse, Toulouse, France

    Régis Céréghino

  3. Pond Conservation, Oxford, United Kingdom

    Jeremy Biggs

  4. Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Steven Declerck

  5. Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Andrew Hull

  6. University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Maria Rosa Miracle

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Gascón, S., Boix, D., Sala, J., Quintana, X.D. (2007). Relation between macroinvertebrate life strategies and habitat traits in Mediterranean salt marsh ponds (Empordà wetlands, NE Iberian Peninsula). In: Oertli, B., Céréghino, R., Biggs, J., Declerck, S., Hull, A., Miracle, M.R. (eds) Pond Conservation in Europe. Developments in Hydrobiology 210, vol 210. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9088-1_7

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