Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology

Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) is an effective larvicide to control mosquito populations, with negligible environmental impacts. Bti treatments raise the question of possible effects on food webs, with potential proliferations of phytoplankton due to mosquito elimination. We found no negative effects of Bti on total phytoplankton density and community diversity, though diatoms tended to be replaced by drought-resistant algae.

Distribution, ecology and conservation status of two endemic amphipods, Echinogammarus acarinatus and Fontogammarus dalmatinus was studied. This study illustrates the importance of including ecological and historical interpretation of species’ distributions for managing conservational issues of freshwater endemics with narrow ranges.

Sponge-symbionts have the ecological important functions and produce a diverse pharmacological metabolites. Bacteria associated with freshwater sponges have been much less studied. Our study describes diversity of bacteria in Baikalian sponges, specially, those of S. papyracea for the first time. We provide additional knowledge into freshwater sponge-associated microbiota.

In this paper, we realize that oil palm plantations change some limnological and physical variables of streams, but do not change composition fauna of mayfly (Ephemeroptera). Realize that have some cultures that do not disturb all aquatic communities is an important information for freshwater science.

First study of phytoplankton seasonal dynamics in shallow (<1 m) acidic (4 ≤ pH ≤ 6) organic-rich thaw lakes of Western Siberia revealed the dominance of desmids and sheath-forming cyanobacteria and significant control of pH and inorganic carbon on the total cell number and biomass and abundance of cyanobacteria and Charophyta.

M. japonicas is one of the most abundant macrobenthic animals in estuarine zone.

We performed de novo transcriptome sequencing to produce the most comprehensive EST resource for M. japonicas.

We identified stress response genes in M. japonicus exposed to antifouling biocides irgarol.

A total of 887,690 reads were obtained, which were assembled into 24,217 high quality ESTs using 454 pyrosequencing.

Irgarol toxicity induced up-regulation of proteolysis and oxidation-reduction genes in biological process.

This paper focuses on the river health assessment composed of multiple biological indicators of benthic algae, macroinvertebrates and fish. Several important aspects were identification of core sensitive indicators, evaluation and selections of suitable reference and threshold values, consideration of river classification and application simplicity. This approach can promote the widely application of river health assessment at the large regional and national scales.

Community structure is suitable for characterizing pollution states under field conditions

Species Abundance Distribution (SAD) models fit two main groups, weak and strong pollution

The parameter, γ, in the log-normal distribution, differs between strong and weak pollution groups

Low coefficients of variation in SAD slopes distinguish less and slightly polluted states within the weak pollution group

Mixture of log-normal distribution with geometric series distinguishes polluted from severely polluted within the strong pollution group

The cessation of aquaculture in a subtropical shallow lake improved the overall water quality despite little change in nutrient concentration because the phytoplankton abundance decreased, the species richness and diversity index increased, and the dominant species changed from toxic to less harmful species after the cessation.

Cyanobacterial bloom exhibits huge annual variation in the regulated river system.

Self-Organizing Map was used to analyze patterns between cyanobacterial bloom and environmental factors for the Nakdong River.

Annual cyanobacterial blooms are separated by rainfall and river flow in a river experiencing eutrophication.

Seasonal cyanobacterial blooms were distinguished and separated based on heat source, rainfall and nutrient variations.

Cyanobacterial bloom reduction during drought periods can be suppressed by regulated flow and nutrient.

A multiple-process univariate model is developed to predict chlorophyll-a concentrations in inland waters. The results of application of the proposed method and other existing approaches to 16 points in four major rivers of South Korea demonstrated the accurate predictability and parsimony of the developed model for chlorophyll-a prediction.

We report the impact of a dam on fish communities upstream and downstream.

A self-organizing map differentiated four different clusters of fish communities.

At the site directly before the dam, large numbers of largemouth bass were observed.

Species turnover rate was the highest between the two sites directly upstream and downstream of the dam.

Species composition was negatively correlated in the farthest distances based on spatial autocorrelation.

The paper described the phoretic associations between larvae of Nanocladius asiaticus (Diptera, Chironomidae) and its hosts Gestroiella (Heteroptera, Naucoridae) in streams. The result revealed that the most frequent attachment site was along the mesofemur and mesosternum of the naucorids hosts. This paper presents for the first time a symphoretic relationship between a species of N. asiaticus and E. masoni (Odonata, Euphaeidae) from western Thailand.

Water temperature increase due to global warming could decrease the thermal habitat suitability of Korean endemic riverine fish species within next several decades.

The degree of decline in the habitat suitability would vary according to the basin-specific thermal regime and each species' thermal tolerance, as well as anthropogenic disturbances.

A new genus of mayflies is described for 6 new species from New Caledonia. This contribution to taxonomy is useful for biomonitoring and protection of the unique aquatic biodiversity of the island. In nymphs of one subgenus, the femora are paddle-shaped and modified for swimming.

The effect of predatory insects on prey size distribution was investigated in two temporary Andean wetlands, located in northwest of Patagonia Argentina. The wetlands studied showed heterogeneous prey size structure and the insects impacted on survival of different prey size and stages. However the size-limited predators investigated here, seems no influence on the body size structure of the prey, other variables could be more important in the size structure of these aquatic ecosystems.

The seasonal successions of plankton in eutrophic rivers on plain tended to converge to at least three regular patterns. All were potentially driven by anthropogenic influences (water conservancy, shipping and land use) through significantly changing water environments (physicochemical factors, hydrological features and dissolved oxygen).

Photosynthetic performances of epilithic freshwater lichens representative of various submersion conditions were compared. Pigment composition, respiration rate, photosynthesis activity and PSII efficiency after thalli hydration/dehydration were determined, emphasizing large differences in photosynthetic traits of hyper- and sub-hydrophilic lichens. Our results reveal that performances of different freshwater lichen taxa are consistent with their habitat characteristics.

Recent threat of habitat loss and fragmentation impels us better understanding how habitat specific dynamics influence overall ecosystem processes. This paper demonstrates that each habitat type should be considered as a discrete metabolic entity and that particular sets of environmental factors are responsible for habitat specific metabolic responses. Such findings have a great applicability in river restoration initiatives, particularly when benthic metabolism is used as indicator of ecosystem function.

Three new Neotropical species of aquatic non-biting midges, Nilothauma canaima n. sp. from the Bolívar State, Venezuela, N. granma n. sp. from Granma Province, Cuba, and N. soka n. sp. from the Amazon State, Brazil are described and figured, and a key to the males of Nilothauma from the New World is given.

Mar Chiquita is a large salt lake of international importance because of its biodiversity. Key findings include its eutrophic condition and occurrence of a marked spring nutrient turnover followed by a clear water summer, despite lack of thermal stratification. Instead, lake shallowness and the subtropical climate appear as the main driving factors.

Zooplankton community structure in YRE was studied after the Three Gorges Reservoir.

Biomass and population density of zooplankton in YRE showed an increasing trend.

The key factor affecting zooplankton community in YRE was bottom layer salinity.

Long-term effects of TGR on zooplankton community in YRE need further investigation

Considering that knowledge of the biodiversity of a region is the first step toward its conservation and given the paucity of studies on aquatic insects from the Simandou streams, the diversity of these communities was assessed. Overall, 130 taxa belonging to 52 families and eight orders were recorded. Multivariate analyses gathered sites into three clusters in regard to aquatic insect composition. The highest taxonomic richness was registered in cluster that contained a mixture of upland and lowland sites, the latter remained minimally disturbed. These sites could be considered as reference sites in studies for assessing water quality. Generalized additive models (GAMs) calculated for the most frequent taxa showed that water temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity and pH were the incorporated explanatory variables.

The study shows that for sediment core sections of unequal lengths (which is frequently the case because researchers expect higher variability in the surface layers compared to the deeper ones), the only correct approach is to express all density measurements per unit volume (not area). Given the high number of studies using incorrect calculations, the study paves the way for better practices in benthic sampling.

Flow regulation alters the structure of invertebrate assemblages inhabiting a Páramo river. The elimination of spates did not lead to a complete turnover of taxa. Instead, it allowed the establishment and the increase in density of taxa without specific resistance-resilience adaptations. This study highlighted the importance of implementing new regulation plans, which mimic the natural flow regime.

The potential of the planctomycete Rhodopirellula rubra strain LF2 was evaluated as a nutritional or a supplementary food source for D. magna and D. longispina

Daphnids showed impairment in all the parameters of life history evaluated specially when only fed with R. rubra

Daphnids were fed with algae and planctomycetes no alterations were recorded for the rate of population increase.

In the concentrations tested, R. rubra was not a good alternative food source in daphnids diet.

The hatching phenology of co-occurring large branchiopod species was studied using cyclical hydrations of sediment. Despite differing in ecological roles, both species showed similar emergence phenology. Such studies are rare from India, where the characteristic climate and rampant destruction of such habitats make these data important.

We observed the appearance of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii in winter and its disappearance in summer in a small pond in northern Taiwan, although our earlier survey showed its dominance in summer. Changes in the environmental conditions and the dominant ecotypes were assumed to be responsible for the change in the seasonal dynamics of C. raciborskii.

Larvae of two argentine Austrelmis species are described and compared to other known larvae. Larval diagnostic features for the genus are summarized. Austrelmis is common to the Andean mountains; this contribution allows an easy identification of larvae at generic and specific levels and is important for those doing ecological studies in the region.

Trophic positions of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides in Lake Izunuma, Japan, did not increase with the dietary shift from zooplanktivory to piscivory, and actually decreased when larger fish shifted towards feeding on red swamp crayfish. Consequently, largemouth bass ≥300 mm TL occupied lower trohic positions than smaller individuals.

Lorenzo Lastrucci, Claudia Angiolini, Andrea Coppi, Lara Reale and Daniela Gigante carry out studies on plant diversity of wetlands and on reed bed decline in Central Italy.

Daniele Viciani and Gianmaria Bonari carry out studies on flora and vegetation, with particular focus on Tuscan area.

Valeria Fazzi defended a master thesis on the reed bed vegetation of Montepulciano Lake

Orlando Vaselli and Barbara Nisi carry out researches on gas and water geochemistry and geothermics.

The introduction of Aplexa hypnorum (moss bladder snail) in habitats colonized by Galba truncatula or Omphiscola glabra (mud snails) resulted in a progressive decrease in areas occupied by lymnaeids and a progressive reduction in the size of their populations over the years.

The freshwater limpet Ancylus fluviatilis is a known species complex. We applied COI barcoding and found two molecular clades on a small geographic scale. Their occurrence corresponds to bioclimatic conditions. We propose implementing molecular methods into diversity assessments on a regular basis.

Stable Isotope Analysis of carbon and nitrogen was used to study the origin of the suspended particulate matter in a small Mediterranean reservoir affected by a strong water level fluctuation. Isotopic signatures were affected by the hydrodynamic, temperature and phytoplankton species composition.