Ref ID : 2076
Paolo Madoni; Microzoobenthos in the Brasimone Reservoir (Tusco-Emilian Apennines): Community structure and distribution. Verh.int.Ver.Limnol. 24:1405-1408, 1991
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Microzoobenthos plays a basic role in the detritus food chain of lake ecosystems and represents an important factor able to controlling growth of bacteria community in sediments. Benthic microfauna, moreover, provide frequently useful information on trophic conditions of aquatic ecosystems and their evolution. The microbenthic fauna of lakes, with particular attention to the group of ciliated Protozoa, has been studied most thoroughly in the British lake distinct (Goulder 1970; Finlay et al. 1979; Bark 1981) and in some Polish ponds (Grabacka 1965, 1971). Concerning italian lakes, only few works on protozoans in the profundal zones of Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta (Ruggiu 1965, 1969) were accomplished. This study is part of a series of limnological investigations on the man-made Lake Brasimone (Tusco-Emilian Apennines). Previous limnological studies were mainly concerned with zooplankton (Adami & Salmoiraghi 1985), phytoplankton and physical and chemical properties (Salmoiraghi 1979, 1984). There are no previous records of protozoa and micrometazoa from sediments of Lake Brasimone. The purpose of this study was to supply data both on the faunal composition and distribution of the microbenthos over the annual cycle of the lake as a response of ciliate abundance, composition, and community structure to trophic state.