Stygoregions – a promising approach to a bioregional classification of groundwater systems

Stein, Heide; Griebler, Christian; Berkhoff, Sven; Matzke, Dirk; Fuchs, Andreas; Hahn, Hans Jürgen

doi:10.1038/srep00673

Cited by 50 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(72 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The amphipods belonging to the Niphargidae family are known including the specimens that have adapted to subterranean conditions. This stygobiontic invertebrate is known as perfectly adapted to groundwater habitats, has translucent, blind, exhibit enhanced tactile sense organs and lacks circadian periodicity (Stein et al, 2012). Until now, a total of 9 species belonging to the genus Niphargus from Turkey has been reported (Akbulut et In the past, only one species from this stygobiont family, N. valachicus, was reported from Turkish Thrace at three different localities which are located at Kirklareli and Istanbul (Fiser et al, 2009).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But, it was believed that great populations belonging to subterranean fauna which are diversely populated wait for description in these special habitats (Hancock, Boulton, 2008;Dole-Olivier et al, 2009;Gibert et al, 2009;Stoch, Galassi, 2010;Stein et al, 2012). Therefore, water wells which are man-made holes to get water from 168 Pinar Ozkahya, Belgin Camur-Elipek underground can serve to habit some subterranean fauna.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A study on determining of macroinvertebrate biodiversity in water wells with stygobiont species findings

Ozkahya¹,

Çamur-Elipek

2015

biologija

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although the groundwater ecosystems are diversely populated habitats, it is believed that a lot of species wait for description in these special environments. But, increasing pollution in the world also affects groundwater ecosystems. Macroinvertebrates living as a subterranaean form in groundwaters play an important role in the purification of these habitats and provide usable water quality and they can be extinct before their description. Water wells which are man-made holes to get water from underground are very important environment for a lot of living things. They are made by the digging or drilling of groundwater in underground aquifers and sometimes stygobiont species occurs and can live in these habitats. The wells can create proper environments for living things. In this study, we investigated macroinvertebrate fauna of the wells which are used for drinking/using in a province at Turkish Thrace. For this aim, a total of 80 water wells were sampled during the years 2009-2010. Thus, it was aimed to determine the biodiversity on the macroinvertebrate fauna of these special habitats. As a result, macroinvertebrates belonging to Annelida (Oligochaeta, Hirudinae), Arthropoda (Isopoda, Amphipoda, Diptera), and Mollusca (Gastropoda, Bivalvia) were reported as the first records in the wells of the studied area. Also, an eyeless stygobiont Amphipod species, Niphargus valachicus, was also found at two different water wells.Key words: water well, macroinvertebrate, subterranean, stygobiont, Turkish Thrace INTRODUCTIONIt is very difficult to investigate the groundwater environments for macroinvertebrate fauna because of a lot of reasons, such as reach to the water body, sampling difficulties, etc. But, it was believed that great populations belonging to subterranean fauna which are diversely populated wait for description in these special habitats (Hancock, Boulton, 2008;Dole-Olivier et al., 2009;Gibert et al., 2009;Stoch, Galassi, 2010;Stein et al., 2012). Therefore, water wells which are man-made holes to get water from 168 Pinar Ozkahya, Belgin Camur-Elipek underground can serve to habit some subterranean fauna. Some specimens which are known as stygobiont can occur and live in these environments.Although there are a lot of studies which were performed on determining the physicochemical or biological features of water wells, it is seen that a lot of them on biological situation are related with microbiota of the well water (McFeters et al., 1974; Higsmith et al., 1977;Hasde et al., 2002). The data on macroinvertebrates which are living in water wells are very rare (Pesce et al., 1978;Sket, 1990). But, this special habitat may provide very protective areas for macroinvertebrates, especially for stygobiont species. Therefore, it can present very important results on subterranean fauna.Until now, there is no study on aquatic macroinvertebrates living in water wells of Turkish Thrace. The macroinvertebrate in these special areas has been generally ignored by Turkish researchers up to now. In this study, we examined ...

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study on determining of macroinvertebrate biodiversity in water wells with stygobiont species findings

Ozkahya¹,

Çamur-Elipek

2015

biologija

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…sandstone), and fractured rocks (e.g. basalt, granite, volcanics), mirroring other Australian (Guzik et al 2010) and Euro pean experiences (Stein et al 2012). Overall stygofauna were discovered in 28.0% of samples, however variability in the proportion of samples found to contain at least one stygofauna individual among lithologies suggests differences in habitat suitability (Fig ure 4).…”

Section: Stygofauna Biogeographymentioning

confidence: 98%

Biodiversity and biogeography of groundwater invertebrates in Queensland, Australia

Glanville¹,

Schulz²,

Tomlinson³

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Groundwater systems, traditionally considered lifeless conduits of water Boulton 2008, Schulz et al. 2013), are now known to provide critical habitat for a diverse range of fauna collectively called stygofauna. Stygofauna communities can have significant conservation value as exemplified by rela tively high levels of endemism and biodiversity. Despite this the biogeography and taxonomic diversity of stygofauna communities largely remains undocumented. This paper describes the development and interrogation of a statewide database of 755 samples from 582 sites, and reviews the current knowledge of stygofauna biodiversity and biogeography across Queensland (northeastern Australia).Queensland is known to host 24 described families of stygofauna with stygofauna composition broadly consistent with other regions around the world. However Queensland assemblages tend to be unusually rich in both oligochaetes (16% cf. 2%) and syncarids (12% cf. 4%). Associations between stygofauna taxonomic richness and key environmental variables were consistent with many general as sumptions of habitat suitability. However there were also notable exceptions, including stygofauna records from: groundwater 60 meters below ground level; groundwater with electrical conductivity above 50,000 μS/cm, and; both highly acidic (pH 3.5) and alkaline (pH 10.3) environments. These exceptions clearly demonstrate that strict adherence to general assumptions about habitat suitability when planning sam pling activities may mask the true diversity of groundwater ecosystems.

show abstract

“…Their efforts comprise various different aspects ranging from evaluation of sampling methods, biota for monitoring and description of ecosystem health, as well as establishing classifications schemes addressing different scales (e.g. Hahn, 2006Hahn, , 2009Cornu and Eme (2013); Korbel and Hose, 2011;Stein et al, 2010Stein et al, , 2012. Most of these efforts keep alive discussions of the "usefulness" of groundwater organisms per se (ecosystem services, functions see for example Griebler and Avramov, 2015) and, derived thereof, discussions of the usefulness of the groundwater biota as legislative monitoring tool additional to hydrochemical parameters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

About faunal life in Austrian aquifers – historical background and current developments

Hilberg¹,

Eisendle-Flöckner²

2016

AJES

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Austria all general types of aquifers (porous, karstic and fractured) are present and are subject of hydraulic and hydrochemical investigations. However, in hydrogeological research it is a still widely neglected fact that groundwater flow is not only a flux of water, chemicals and heat within lithological units but that groundwater bodies may also act as habitats with very particular conditions for their inhabitants. In general groundwater inhabitants require three things: a place to live, oxygen and energy or food, respectively. Thus, the living conditions of groundwater animals are directly connected to hydrological and geomorphological conditions on a regional scale, and on a local scale, lithological and structural properties that control hydrogeological parameters such as porosity and hydraulic conductivity, recharge mechanisms and flow dynamics.In this paper we view Austrian hydrogeology from the perspective of groundwater fauna in order to elucidate the connection between the hydrogeological conditions and biological patterns. A brief review of groundwater biology research in general and specifically in Austria, revealed that crustaceans are basically in the focus of groundwater research while other common groundwater dwellers, such as free-living nematodes, are less studied similarly. Porous aquifers are comparably well investigated by groundwater biologists, while fractured aquifers have rarely been considered as habitats to date.Due to the complex hydrogeological situation in Austria, with a greater portion of fractured and karstic aquifers, a systematic biological survey considering hydrogeological aspects may lead to a pronounced progress for the both disciplines, hydrogeology and groundwater biology. For hydrogeological purposes, the studies may provide the basis for using groundwater species (similar to the established method of using stable isotopes) as natural tracers in future studies. From the biological perspective, progress in the understanding of complex habitat-biota relations is expected to result from the investigation of hitherto unknown habitats. In addition, such a survey would not only be an important contribution to biodiversity and biogeography in Austria, it would also promote groundwater research in a broader context, such as the need to protect groundwater as a valuable service providing system (e.g. water quality).Preliminary results from six test sites distributed to four different geological settings (Quaternary basin fill, Flysch-Zone, Northern Calcareous Alps and the Central Crystalline Zone within the Alps) show evidence for a link between the hydrogeological conditions and the present biological assemblages. However, a systematic survey is still required to understand which environmental factors mainly govern live in Austrian aquifers.

show abstract

Stygoregions – a promising approach to a bioregional classification of groundwater systems

Cited by 50 publications

References 30 publications

A study on determining of macroinvertebrate biodiversity in water wells with stygobiont species findings

A study on determining of macroinvertebrate biodiversity in water wells with stygobiont species findings

Biodiversity and biogeography of groundwater invertebrates in Queensland, Australia

About faunal life in Austrian aquifers – historical background and current developments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About