Nematode communities of small farmland ponds |
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Authors: | Wim Bert Marjolein Messiaen Frederik Hendrickx Joeri Manhout Tom De Bie Gaëtan Borgonie |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium;(2) Applied Ecology and Environmental Biology, Ghent University, J. Plateaustraat 22, 9000 Ghent, Belgium;(3) Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium;(4) Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, KULeuven, Ch. De Bériotstraat 32, 3000 Leuven, Belgium |
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Abstract: | The nematofauna of 14 farmland ponds, selected according to a gradient of surrounding agricultural land-use intensity, from
five regions in North-West of Belgium were studied. The total nematode density (9–411 ind./10 cm2 per pond), and especially
the number of species (4–12 species per pond) was especially low in these ponds. In total, 17 genera of free-living benthic
nematodes, belonging to 15 families, are identified. Tobrilus gracilis and Eumonhystera filiformis were the most common species and were found in 13 and 12 of the 14 sampled ponds, respectively. The genera Tobrilus and Eumonhystera jointly comprise 77% of the total nematofauna. Consequently, the investigated water bodies were dominated by deposit feeding
Monhysteridae and/or by chewing Tobrilidae. Diplogasteridae and Rhabditidae, normally related with eutrophic habitats, were
almost absent. In order to explain the variation of total density, diversity, feeding-types composition and the individual
density of the six most important species within ponds as well, sets of environmental variables were statistically selected.
It was demonstrated that morphologically very similar species can show highly different ecological properties. The presence
of a substantial mud layer and of an overall high level of eutrophication as well as the presence of possibly associated anaerobic
conditions are put forward as the main factors explaining the observed low density and diversity. Total phosphate concentration
and sediment characteristics seem to be the most important variables to explain the nematode community structure. However,
a clear pattern of environmental variables, agricultural land use and nematode assemblages was not observed.
Handling editor: K. Martens |
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Keywords: | Diversity Freshwater Meiofauna Nematoda Pool Water body |
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