Biodiversity of Zooplankton in Polish Small Water Bodies

Abstract

Although ponds located in a low-transformed landscape harbour higher biodiversity than ponds in areas with a large impact of anthropopression, both types of water bodies can contribute to the enrichment of fauna on local and regional scales. This review presents aspects of pond zooplankton diversity with reference to the occurrence of species, common and rare, and significant drivers of their distribution. The results of various studies carried out on small water bodies in Poland revealed a great level of zooplankton diversity, which points directly to a high variation of the origin of types of ponds. Land use within the direct catchment area influences the creation of zooplankton diversity, although a greater impact is connected with various habitats, particularly the open water zone and macrophyte-dominated areas. The complex architecture of elodeids is responsible for the highest zooplankton diversity with many rare species, offering a great number of available ecological niches for littoral animals and profitable anti-predator conditions for planktonic species. Therefore, one should strive to maintain or even increase the complexity of aquatic vegetation within even small-surfaced ponds. The generally high share of rare species found in ponds underlines their high ecological value but, at the same time, a lack of thorough studies. The most common rotifers found in Polish ponds were Keratella cochlearis, Anuraeopsis fissa, Polyarthra vulgaris and Keratella quadrata as well as Chydorus sphaericus, Bosmina longirostris, Ceriodaphnia quadrangula and Eubosmina coregoni among crustaceans. This reflects the wide ecological valence of these species and suggests that most ponds are eutrophic.