2017
Natura Croatica, Vol. 26 No.2
Abstract
Based on field investigations and using the Braun-Blanquet approach, the paper describes the chasmophytic association Portenschlagiello ramosissimae-Campanuletum portenschlagianae, from Croatian Mediterranean cliffs.
Keywords
Adriatic, Centaureo-Portenschlagiellion, ICPN, phytosociology, phytosociological nomenclature, plant associations, chasmophytic vegetation.
Abstract
A dance fly (Diptera: Empididae) Rhamphomyia (Pararhamphomyia) intersita Collin, 1960, previously known from Israel and Turkey, is recorded for the first time in Europe (Croatia). A new record is presented, with a photo of the voucher specimen. A key to the Palaearctic species of Rhamphomyia (Pararhamphomyia) with black legs, multiserial dorsocentrals and an at least partly pale setose body is provided.
Keywords
Dance flies, Empidoidea, Empididae, Israel, Turkey, Croatia, distribution, identification
Abstract
Apristus europaeus was recorded for the first time in Croatia. It was found in the dry river bed of the temporary Krčić River (Dalmatian Zagora region), situated beneath the Dinara Mountains. This record represents the southeasternmost distribution border of this species in Europe. Apristus europaeus was sampled with pitfall traps in July 2014. The substrate was composed of boulders, without mosses or algae. Microclimatic conditions were unfavourable for soil invertebrates, since the dry river beds were exposed to intense solar radiation and wind. Our findings show that A. europaeus could quickly recolonize new and unstable habitats, implying that it has a high dispersal capacity. However, this study raises the question of the A. europaeus habitat preference, for in previous studies, it was characterised as a stenotopic hygrophilous species inhabiting the banks of flowing waters.
Keywords
Dinara Mountains, Dinaric karst, new record, dry river bed, temporary river
Abstract
Two out of three critically endangered species of angelsharks (genus Squatina (Dumeril, 1806)) inhabiting the Mediterranean have been recorded in the Adriatic Sea, namely smoothback angelshark S. oculata Bonaparte, 1840 and common angelshark S. squatina (Linnaeus, 1758). While S. oculata has been extirpated from the Adriatic Sea due to overfishing, the presence of S. squatina remained questionable and some authors propose the species is regionally extinct since the 1980s. We present new data on the occurrence of S. squatina in the Croatian Adriatic Sea based upon inspection of collections from natural history museums and literature sources as well as three new records resulting from bycatch in commercial bottom trawls in 2016 and 2017. A low overall number of records and the complete absence of the species in scientific trawl surveys conducted since 1958, indicate its low abundance and question the effectiveness of scientific surveying in detecting rare species. Our analysis showed that this formerly abundant species is still present in the Adriatic Sea, emphasizing the importance of implementing novel approaches, such as citizen-science programmes, in studying its current distribution. Although the legal framework for angelshark conservation already exists, poor implementation and lack of any species-specific conservation measures will most probably result in further population declines and extinction of S. squatina from the Adriatic Sea.
Keywords
elasmobranchs, sharks, distribution, Adriatic Sea, Mediterranean Sea
Abstract
Two new sites with benthic freshwater alga Hydrurus foetidus (Villars) Trevisan have been discovered in Dinaric Ecoregion of Croatia. The sites are located in two karst watercourses: Kupa River and Slušnica River. Both sites are non-shadowed aquatic habitats, with developed vegetation characteristic for clear, running waters. The alga was found during summer months at its disintegration stage, and during autumn at the beginning of its growing stage. In the Kupa River, incrusted calcium carbonate was found within the thalli of H. foetidus. After the first known record in Bijela Rijeka River from 2015, our findings represent the second and the third known localities of this species in Croatia. Even though the vegetation composition indicates high ecological status of the sites, future anthropogenic impacts and climatic changes could become a threat to this underexplored species in Croatia.
Keywords
benthic, freshwater, macroalgae, Slušnica River, Kupa River
Abstract
The main aims of our study were (1) to determine the flora in railway areas with special emphasis on the presence of neophytes; (2) to describe the features of the flora through analyses of taxonomic composition, chorotypes, life forms and the phytosociological character of species found at 15 stations in the Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (SE Europe). According to their floristic composition, two broad groups of stations were recognized: i) stations in the most southerly area with higher annual precipitation and air temperature (cities of Ploče, Metković, Čapljina, Mostar), and ii) stations in sub-Mediterranean rural areas located exclusively at higher altitudes, including stations in three Dalmatian large cities (Zadar, Šibenik, Split). Altogether, 359 vascular plant taxa (336 species and 23 subspecies) were identified within 62 families and 230 genera. Therophytes, and Mediterraneans with a considerable proportion of Cosmopolitans were predominant. Neophytes contributed 14% of identified flora, the majority being invasive. In the phytosociological spectrum, the largest element was made up of taxa from Stellarietea mediae and Festuco valesiacae-Brometea erecti classes. Most of the railway stations studied excluding those in large cities, retain a link with the floristic composition of the plant communities of their biogeographic contexts.
Keywords
man-made habitats, operating tracks, floristic survey, neophytes, nitrophilous annual vegetation, SE Europe
Abstract
Sternbergia colchiciflora is a rare species in Croatia, estimated as data deficient (DD), and therefore every new finding represents a valuable contribution to the knowledge of its distribution, with implications for its conservation status in the future. In this paper we describe newly found localities, and provide observations on its current distribution and IUCN status, based on all known sites and population trends. So far, this taxon has been recorded only at a few localities along the Eastern Adriatic coast. Here, we report Mt Velebit and Krka National Park as new localities for S. colchiciflora, and confirm its occurrence on Mt Biokovo and on the island of Brač. The species typically occupies dry calcareous grasslands within eu- and sub-Mediterranean vegetation in different stages of vegetation succession.
Keywords
dry Mediterranean grasslands, IUCN, rare species, Sternbergia colchiciflora var. dalmatica, succession
Abstract
The Plitvice Lakes National Park is a unique area in the world with a great variety of aquatic habitats, including tufa barriers. UNESCO has protected this area since 1979. In this paper, detailed faunistic results of the first research on Trichoptera species conducted from 1997 to 2001 are shown. Sampling was done using both light and emergence traps, and 77 caddisfly species were determined using the two methods. Furthermore, a brief overview of the Trichoptera research history in the Plitvice Lakes area is given along with a detailed presentation of caddisfly fauna and an extended second checklist of Trichoptera species in the NP. In the Plitvice Lakes 89 Trichoptera species have been recorded so far. Flight periods are given for each species. Also, the reasons of such a high degree of Trichoptera biodiversity (the highest in Croatia) in the Plitvice Lakes are highlighted. A comparison of species assemblages collected from the 12 localities was made along with the comparison of Trichoptera fauna composition in different aquatic habitats in the Plitvice Lakes NP: springs, streams, lakes and tufa barriers.
Keywords
aquatic insects, caddisflies, Plitvice Lakes, biodiversity, ecology, nature protection, UNESCO, Croatia Kučinić, M., Previšić, A., Vajdić, M., Tunjić, M., Mihoci, I., Žalac, S., Sviben, S., Vučković, I.,
Abstract
Knowledge of the composition and distribution of Gammaridae fauna in Kosovo is very poor. Amphipod specimens were collected monthly during 2010 at five sites in five different tributaries of the Toplluhë and Mirushë rivers in Kosovo. Three species of the genus Gammarus Fabricius, 1775 were found: Gammarus balcanicus Schäferna, 1922, Gammarus fossarum Koch, 1836 and Gammarus roeselii Gervais, 1835. Gammarus roeselii was found for the first time in the Republic of Kosovo at one site only, in the Banjë thermal spring, as the only Gammaridae species. The water temperature regime of this site (18-25 °C) enables constant reproduction. The population structure of G. roeselii was dominated by males during most of the research period, probably due to the fact that they reach maturity earlier than females and are characterized by faster growth.
Keywords
Gammarus roeselii, Kosovo, Amphipoda, first record
Abstract
Alpioniscus (Illyrionethes) iapodicus n. sp. is described and illustrated. Representing the 14th nominal species of the subgenus Illyrionethes from the Dinaric karst, it is a troglobiotic species collected from the caves in the central part of the Lika region, Croatia. The new species belongs to the strasseri group. Morphological characters differentiating A. iapodicus from other strasseri group representatives are discussed.
Keywords
Dinaric karst, Lika region, new species, Alpioniscus, Isopoda, terrestrial, Trichoniscidae, troglobiotic
Abstract
We collected adult caddisfly specimens with entomological nets and ultraviolet light traps monthly from May to November 2012 in Brezne Lake situated in Dragash Municipality. During this investigation we found the Leptocerid species Triaenodes bicolor for the first time in Kosovo; it is also the first record for Ecoregion 6, Hellenic Western Balkans. Additionally, this is the first record of the genus Triaenodes from Kosovo. In total seven males and three females of this species were found. Triaenodes bicolor is present all over the European continent but has been rarely sampled in southeastern Europe. Other taxa sympatric with Triaenodes bicolor in the investigated locality are: Hydropsyche instabilis, Hydropsyche spp., Plectrocnemia conspersa, Plectrocnemia spp., Micropterna nycterobia, Micropterna sequax, Limnephilus vittatus, Limnephilus auricula and Thremma anomalum.
Keywords
Triaenodes, Kosovo, Trichoptera, Balkan Peninsula
Abstract
During a nine-year survey of the Hrvatsko zagorje region carried out from 2008 until 2016 we recorded 112 butterfly species. Records were supplemented with seven species known only from literature data, which amounted to 119 species representing 60 % of the Croatian butterfly fauna. The highest butterfly diversity was registered on the mountains Ivanščica and Strahinjščica and along the Sutla River valley. Several rare and endangered species were recorded in the region, mostly grassland specialists such as Phengaris teleius, Ph. alcon rebeli, Polyommatus thersites, Euphydryas aurinia and Zerynthia polyxena whose habitats are declining due to changes in the use of grasslands like abandonment or, less frequently, intensification. The population of Lycaena dispar is still locally numerous, but its habitats are now rapidly overgrown with invasive alien plants. The butterfly diversity of Hrvatsko zagorje is high in comparison with the neighbouring region of Haloze in Slovenia. In order to maintain the high butterfly diversity in the region, grasslands and forest edges in the region are in a need of conservation actions and revitalization.
Keywords
Lepidoptera, butterfly diversity, Croatia, Hrvatsko zagorje
Abstract
Elucidation of food web interactions provides a better understanding of ecosystem functioning, indicates anthropogenic impacts which often cause alterations in environmental conditions and deterioration in feeding networks in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The importance of microfauna and macroinvertebrates in the littoral zones of shallow waters has been poorly studied regarding their trophic interactions. This study compares invertebrate assemblage and food web interactions among epiphyton, zooplankton and benthic macroinvertebrates across structural heterogeneity in the littoral zone of three temperate shallow water bodies. Submerged and structurally-complex stands of Ceratophyllum demersum inhabited a higher abundance of cladocerans and supported a higher diversity and biomass of epiphytic protozoans and invertebrates than floating-leaved Nuphar lutea stands. Analysis of the ecosystem functioning illustrated the increased biomass of macroinvertebrate predators and a preference of predation over planktonic crustaceans in more complex macrophyte stands. Food webs displayed higher complexity and size with habitat heterogeneity, while epiphyton and zooplankton shared an important fraction in food resources among the invertebrate trophic network. Results of food web modelling indicated zooplankton and epiphyton as more vulnerable to invertebrate predation in the complex submerged macrophytes than in the floating-leaved macrophyte stands. Integrated approaches to community, ecosystem and food webs in explanation of complex trophic interactions in the littoral zones confirmed an increase in diversity and food-web functional complexity with structural heterogeneity of microhabitats.
Keywords
epiphyton, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, tactile predators, macrophytes, relaxed niche food web model Špoljar, M., Lajtner, J., Dražina, T., Malekzadeh-Viayeh, R., Radanović, I., Zrinščak, I., Fressl,