Distribution of Brachionus species in Spanish mediterranean wetlands

In this study 200 zooplankton samples were Burjassotcollected (1979–1980), from 57 different wetlands in coastal Mediterranean Spain (CMS) and examined for the occurrence of Brachionus species. Data on 17 separate physical and chemical features of these water bodies were obtained from samples collected at the same time. Ten different Brachionus species were found in these wetlands, but only six occurred frequently enough to allow further examination of their distributional patterns using multivariate discriminant analysis. To separate these species, three analyses were performed using the 17 physical and chemical parameters, or their ratios. Three discriminant functions accounted for 80% or more of the among species variance. Separation of species occurred on each discriminant function which could be attributed to a reduced number of parameters. These were mainly temperature, sulphate, chloride, alkalinity and alkaline earths.