Comparision of the periphyton inhabiting reed between floodplain lake and river

Abstract

In 2018, on the biotic substrate formed by Phragmites australis in lotic (the Supia River) and lenitic oxbow lake (OLB) ecosystems we observed the development of epiphytic organisms from all the trophic levels (producers, consumers, decomposers). In both ecosystem types the producers were represented mainly by diatoms, which were more abundant in the river, where the average density of epiphytic algae was 1.5-fold higher than in the oxbow. Epiphytic microfauna on reed substrate included 14 taxa both in the river and the oxbow lake but it developed better in the oxbow and reached 3.5-fold higher density than in the river. As for macrozooperiphyton, the lenitic ecosystem was predominated by Nematoda (D=84%) while the lotic ecosystem by Rotatoria (D=50%). Large epiphytic animals were present only on reed growing along the bank of the Supia River. That component of zooperiphyton was represented only by 3 taxa, among which the most abundant was Asellus aquaticus (D=59%).