Many morphologically similar species of the simuliid (Diptera: Simuliidae) subgenus Wilhelmia, Enderlein are difficult to distinguish. Thus, the revision of the subgenus using various morphological, cytogenetic, and genetic analyses has been attempted. Neglected until now, the Balkan Peninsula, a crossroad between Europe and Anatolia, provides insight which could resolve problematic interrelationships of the taxa within this subgenus. To uncover the status and relations within the subgenus Wilhelmia, mtDNA was extracted from 47 individuals of six morphospecies: Simulium balcanicum (Enderlein, 1924), Simulium turgaicum Rubtsov, 1940, Simulium lineatum (Meigen, 1804), Simulium pseudequinum Séguy, 1921, Simulium equinum (Linnaeus, 1758), and Simulium paraequinum Puri, 1933 from 21 sites throughout the Balkan Peninsula. Phylogenetic analysis of the Wilhelmia species using mitochondrial DNA barcoding (COI) gene showed two major branches, the lineatum branch, which includes the lineages sergenti, paraequinum, and lineatum, and the equinum branch. In the equinum branch, the mtDNA sequences formed six clades, with high genetic distances, suggesting the existence of different species. Historically, the clades of the equinum branch appeared at numerous islands, perhaps as a result of allopatric speciation. The paraequinum lineage (lineatum branch) is composed of two species. However, six clades of the lineatum lineage overlapped with intra- and interspecific genetic distances. Our results revealed that the species S. balcanicum, S. pseudequinum B, and S. equinum were omnipresent in the Balkans. The results point to not only the fair diversity of Wilhelmia species in the Balkans, but also indicate that most Wilhelmia species live in sympatry.
Urban waters are often neglected in biodiversity research; nonetheless, the number of aquatic microhabitats present in a city and the surrounding urban area is impressive. Twenty-two waterbodies in the Belgrade functional urban area (FUA) were investigated for faunistic and diversity patterns and to assess the effects of environmental factors on the differentiation of Chironomidae assemblages. A total of 66 chironomid taxa within four subfamilies was identified. Water quality at the studied sites, expressed by the water pollution index (WPI), varied significantly. K-means clustering gave four homogenous groups of chironomid assemblages, which showed clear preferences to specific habitat conditions and tolerance to anthropogenic pressures. These groups had high values of alpha and beta diversity components. The main component of beta diversity was species turnover. Waterbody type, water temperature, pH, nutrients and overall pollution were the most important factors influencing the distribution and composition of chironomid assemblages, which revealed clear preferences of each assemblage type to the category of waterbody type and tolerances to environmental pressures.
Chironomid larvae respond rapidly to environmental changes in aquatic ecosystems, with different species possessing different degrees of tolerance. Consequently, this group is considered an effective and reliable indicator of the ecological status. In this study, the relation between larval chironomid assemblages and environmental variables was examined at two sites on the Kolubara River. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test did not confirm significant seasonal differences between samples. Correspondence analysis indicated that the study sites are distinguished by their community composition. Based on forward selection analyses, 5 out of the 28 analyzed water parameters and 3 out of the 22 sediment parameters displayed the highest levels of correlation with chironomid assemblages. Forward selection analysis revealed that inorganic pollutants in the sediment (mercury, nickel and cadmium) exerted the greatest influence on the community. Results of canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the sediment characteristics have a more significant impact on chironomid communities than the analyzed water parameters. Our study confirmed that chironomids and sediment analyzes should be obligatorily included in the monitoring of ecological status, since chironomids are often a dominant component of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in freshwater ecosystems, with many species inhabiting the sediment with a proclivity for intake of toxic and persistent pollutants. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 176018 i br. 173025 i European Communities 7th Framework Program Funding - Grant No. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1-Globaqua]
The genus Physa (= Physella) includes the most abundant and diverse freshwater gastropods native to North America. Due to their invasive nature many species occur throughout the world. The most abundant species, Physa acuta, has been introduced to Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia by human commerce and migrating birds. This species is widely distributed throughout Serbia. The aim of this study was to explore the genetic diversity of P. acuta from Serbia, and to determine the evolutionary relationships among native Physidae populations from North America, Mexico and Cuba and populations from Europe using sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene. The ML (Maximum Likelihood) tree revealed two clades within Physidae, and two clades that correspond to the families Planorbidae and Lymnaeidae. In the Physidae clade there are two separate clades: one includes the species Physa spelunca, and the second includes samples of P. acuta. We determined three different haplotypes within specimens from Serbia. One haplotype is genetically closest to species Physa heterostrofa (synonym of P. acuta) from Philadelphia, while the other two are very close to P. acuta specimens from New Mexico. Together with other samples our findings corroborate the notion that we are dealing with one panmictic population of P. acuta and not with several separate species, despite the high genetic diversity between and among the populations. Our results indicate that in the same population in Serbia, there is high genetic distance between samples. Despite the small number of analyzed samples, our findings point to multiple introductions of P. acuta from different locations in America.
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