Specific Features of the Macrozoobenthic Communities of Small Arctic Lakes in Eurasia

Jensen T.C., Walseng B., Hessen D.O., Dimante‐Deimantovica I., Novichkova A.A., Chertoprud E.S., Chertoprud M.V., Sakharova E.G., Krylov A.V., Frisch D., Christoffersen K.S.

Hayden B., Harrod C., Thomas S.M., Eloranta A.P., Myllykangas J.‐., Siwertsson A., Præbel K., Knudsen R., Amundsen P.‐., Kahilainen K.K.

Climate change and the intensification of land use practices are causing widespread eutrophication of subarctic lakes. The implications of this rapid change for lake ecosystem function remain poorly understood. To assess how freshwater communities respond to such profound changes in their habitat and resource availability, we conducted a space-for-time analysis of food-web structure in 30 lakes situated across a temperature-productivity gradient equivalent to the predicted future climate of subarctic Europe (temperature +3°C, precipitation +30% and nutrient +45 μg L-1 total phosphorus). Along this gradient, we observed an increase in the assimilation of pelagic-derived carbon from 25 to 75% throughout primary, secondary and tertiary consumers. This shift was overwhelmingly driven by the consumption of pelagic detritus by benthic primary consumers and was not accompanied by increased pelagic foraging by higher trophic level consumers. Our data also revealed a convergence of the carbon isotope ratios of pelagic and benthic food web endmembers in the warmest, most productive lakes indicating that the incorporation of terrestrial derived carbon into aquatic food webs increases as land use intensifies. These results, reflecting changes along a gradient characteristic of the predicted future environment throughout the subarctic, indicate that climate and land use driven eutrophication and browning are radically altering the function and fuelling of aquatic food webs in this biome.

Walseng B., Jensen T., Dimante-Deimantovica I., Christoffersen K.S., Chertoprud M., Chertoprud E., Novichkova A., Hessen D.O.

The high Arctic is in a rapid transition due to climate change, and both direct effects due to warming and an extended growing season, as well as an indirect effect caused by increased bird activity and density (notably geese), strongly affect ponds and lakes. Our study presents the hitherto most comprehensive data on invertebrate freshwater diversity at Svalbard and had three main purposes: to provide a current “baseline” of community composition, to compare current species distribution and occurrence with older data to identify changes that have already occurred, and finally to identify how diversity and community composition are related to the age of localities. To address these aims, we conducted a survey of freshwater invertebrates in 75 ponds and lakes at Svalbard in August 2014 and 2015. We provide a full report of the species’ inventory data for zooplankton, benthos, and meiofauna. We also provide data for species that have likely colonized the sites over the previous decades. Finally, our study also clearly demonstrates a diversity gradient related to ecosystem age and/or parameters confounded with age (e.g., productivity), which may hint at the rate of colonization over the time span from the oldest to the youngest localities.

Chertoprud M.V., Palatov D.M., Dimante-Deimantovica I.

Diversity of macrobenthic communities was studied from water bodies and streams of Spitsbergen, Svalbard archipelago, Norway. In total 162 quantitative samples from different regions of Spitsbergen...

Novoselov A., Studenov I., Koz’min A., Dvoryankin G., Zavisha A., Studenova M., Levitskiy A.

Labay V.S.

Species composition, structure and seasonal dynamics of macrozoobenthos in small lakes of Sakhalin Island are considered on the data of benthic surveys conducted in 1994-2012. Features of the bottom fauna are determined by the lakes origin, their connection with other water bodies, biotic and abiotic conditions. The faunas of the lakes of northern Sakhalin are distinguished by the highest similarity. Generally, variety of benthic communities in small lakes corresponds to their biotope diversity and reduces with the size of lakes decreasing. The most typical benthic communities are those ones of the coastal belt of rigid plants, of the belt of pondweed, and profundal community of the open water area; the latter only is observed in very small lakes. Seasonal dynamics of the benthic communities is defined by biology of a few key species which dominate the whole year round. For example, seasonal dynamics of the profundal community in small floodplain lakes is determined mainly by generative dynamics of one species of chironomid: Chironomus gr. plumosus . Three phases could be traced in the seasonal succession: i) winter; ii) spring and early summer; iii) late summer and autumn. They change under influence of seasonal events as spring flood, summer low water, ice formation, or mass fish migration (reaction of benthic communities on fish migration is adaptive, not catastrophic). Food web of the benthic communities in small lakes is based on autochthonous organic matter of phytoperiphyton, phytobenthos and phytoplankton settled to the bottom. Benthic communities of floodplain lakes play important role in preserving of rheophilic fauna during catastrophic floods.

Денисов Д.Б., Валькова С.А., Терентьев П.М., Черепанов А.А., Denisov D., Val′kova S., Terentjev P., Cherepanov A.

Куликова Т.П., Рябинкин А.В., Kulikova T., Ryabinkin A.

Bolotov I.N., Bespalaya Y.V., Aksenova O.V., Gofarov M.Y., Sokolova S.E.

Species diversity and density of mollusks have been studied in Vashutkiny Lakes (Bol’shezemel’skaya Tundra, northeastern Europe). These lakes are comparable to northern boreal lakes in mollusk species diversity and density levels. Two hypotheses proposed by Zvereva are analyzed: on the relict origin of the ecosystem of these lakes and on the leading role of intrazonal factors in the formation of their abnormally high level of production. Both hypotheses are confirmed by recent data. The production of these lakes is mainly determined by their flowing regime, which offers intense convective heat exchange between water masses and suprapermafrost taliks under the lakes and leads to the accumulation of summer heat in friable Quaternary sediments, which are widespread in lake depressions. Intense water exchange together with strong wind-induced mixing hinders the stratification of water masses.

Chertoprud M.V., Palatov D.M.

The fauna and diversity of macrozoobenthos communities in watercourses of the Khibiny tundras, the surrounding plains, and the Kandalaksha Coast of the White Sea (Murmansk oblast) are described from materials collected by the authors. A checklist of 110 recorded taxa is given, with larvae of Diptera, Trichoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Plecoptera prevailing. A total of 21 types of macrozoobenthos communities are described and subdivided into two parallel series: cold mountain reaches (11 types) and relatively warm plain reaches (10 types). The boundary between them is marked by summer water temperatures of 12–14°C and usually associated with flowing lakes passing through the watercourses in foothill areas. Changes in bottom communities along the longitudinal profile of watercourses of the region are considered; the main factor here is also the summer water temperature, but the basic assumptions of Vannote’s river continuum concept or Illies’s longitudinal watercourse zonality concept are not met. The fauna of the plain part of the water-courses of the region is similar to those of other regions of Eastern Europe, from the south to Moscow oblast, but the mountain series with its peculiar and strongly depleted fauna deserves recognition as a separate zoogeographic province.

Culp J.M., Lento J., Goedkoop W., Power M., Rautio M., Christoffersen K.S., Guðbergsson G., Lau D., Liljaniemi P., Sandøy S., Svoboda M.

Arctic freshwater ecosystems are facing unique challenges through the interaction of natural and human-induced stressors such as climate change and industrial development. Much is unknown about the biodiversity of Arctic freshwaters, although it is believed to have already been affected by climate change. A pan-Arctic monitoring strategy is critically needed to improve abilities to detect and understand ongoing and future changes in Arctic freshwater ecosystems. The challenging issues that Arctic freshwater monitoring must address include: the large diversity of Arctic freshwater ecosystems, varying levels of stressor impacts across the Arctic, lack of historical baseline research and monitoring coordination, and poor among-country standardization of sampling protocols. In response, the Arctic Council's Freshwater Expert Monitoring Group of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna) is developing a framework for monitoring Arctic freshwater biodiversity that w...

Braun-Blanquet J.

Palatov D.M., Chertoprud M.V.

The invertebrate fauna of rivers and streams of the Southern Yamal has been studied using original specimens (122 bottom and vegetation samples). A total of 158 taxa have been recorded, many of which are new for this region. Among them, 18 types of rheophilic macrobenthic communities have been distinguished which mainly correspond to certain types of habitats and watercourses. A depletion in the set of rheophilic communities (including the loss of almost all crenal and many phytal ones), the taxonomic structure of communities (the loss of large bivalves and most gastropods, hemipterans, and dragonflies), and the total species composition of the fauna, as well as changes in the balance of life forms towards filter feeders (larvae of the family Simuliidae midges and pea clams) and leveling of the differences between the communities of large and small watercourses when compared with the communities of the Russian forest zone, have been recorded. Widespread Eurosiberian species are the most abundant in the rheophilic fauna of the examined region, Arctic species account for ∼20% of all species, and six East Siberian species have been found. No endemic species have been discovered.

Rautio M., Dufresne F., Laurion I., Bonilla S., Vincent W.F., Christoffersen K.S.

Berezina N.A.

The faunal composition of Amphipoda crustaceans of continental water bodies in northwestern Russia is analyzed. To compile a checklist of amphipod species, data from original collections made in 1998–2021, the collections of the Zoological Institute, and published information are used. To date, 29 species of amphipods have been recorded from the continental waters of the region. An arealogical analysis of the faunal composition reveals six groups or distribution patterns: Holarctic, West Palearctic, and North Atlantic estuaries, and further three groups of emigrants (settlers) from the Baikal–Siberian, Ponto-Caspian, and Arctic regions. The greatest species richness is recorded in estuarine sections of Baltic Sea rivers on the territories of Leningrad and Kaliningrad oblasts, as well as freshwater bodies of the Republic of Karelia. In terms of species richness, estuarine species amphi-Atlantic in distribution and representatives of allochthonous elements of fauna (invasive species) from the Ponto-Caspian basin dominate in the region. The most common in the region are representatives of Holarctic and Palearctic complexes, as well as species of Arctic and Baikal–Siberian origins. Among them, the following species are most often be recorded in lakes: Gammarus lacustris, Monoporeia affinis, Palaseopsis quadrispinosa, and Gmelinoides fasciatus, compared to G. zaddachi, G. oceanicus, G. tigrinus, and Pontogammarus robustoides in estuarine brackish waters. Human-mediated introductions, both intentional and accidental, must have facilitated the appearance of invasive species in the fauna of northwestern Russia. In the future, an increase in species richness in the region can be expected to occur in two ways: through the introduction of marine species into freshwater and due to speciation.

Kupriyashkin A.G., Prokudin A.B., Shapkin A.M.

The taxonomic composition and quantitative characteristics of zooplankton and zoobenthos of several water bodies of natural origin have been studied in the Norilsk industrial region and adjacent territories a year after a technogenic accident. All age groups of most invertebrate species have been recorded at most sampling sites. Slightly disturbed watercourses are registered in the source of the Pyasina River and in the Daldykan River, located upstream the confluence of the Bezymyanny stream. These water bodies may serve as the background reservoirs for organizing restoration activities accompanied by an assessment of the ecological well-being of planktonic and bottom fauna of freshwater ecosystems.

Chertoprud E.S., Novichkova A.A., Tsyganov A.N., Vorobjeva L.V., Esaulov A.S., Krylenko S.V., Mazei Y.A.

Global climate change might result in permafrost thaw and the formation of thermokarst landscapes that release long-term carbon stocks as greenhouse into the atmosphere, thereby initiating a positive climate feedback. These processes are mediated by biological activity, including by microbes, vascular plants and animals, whereas the role of invertebrates in thermokarst ecosystems remains poorly understood. We investigated the diversity and assemblage structures of zooplankton (mainly Copepoda, Cladocera), microbenthos (testate amoebae) and meio- (Copepoda and Cladocera) and macrozoobenthos (mollusks, crustaceans, insects and annelids) from a range of water bodies representing different stages of thermokarst lake formation in the southern part of the Lena River Delta (Central Siberia). Altogether, 206 species of testate amoeba, mollusk, crustacean, insect and annelid taxa were identified. A total of 60 species of macrozoobenthos (mainly insects) and 62 species of testate amoebae were detected in the water bodies of the Lena River Delta for the first time. The species richness of zooplankton and meio- and macrozoobenthos was greater in the large thermokarst lakes than in the polygonal ponds due to the freezing of the latter in the winter. In contrast, the species richness of protists was higher in the polygonal ponds, which was related to the habitat preferences of testate amoebae. Fish grazing strongly affected the macrobenthos assemblages but not the smaller-sized organisms. Water acidity and temperature were the main environmental drivers of the assemblage structure of testate amoeba and microcrustacean. The species structure of the macroinvertebrate assemblages was significantly explained by water acidity, permafrost depth and size of the water area. It means that small size organisms with their short generation times are sensitive to more dynamic factors such as temperature and may serve as indicators of ecosystem changes due to global climate warming. In contrast, large size organisms are affected by driven factors that appear during thermokarst lakes formation and permafrost degradation.

Savosin E.S., Savosin D.S.

Naumova T.V., Gagarin V.G., Sherbakov D.Y., Sitnikova T.Y.

Naumova T.V., Gagarin V.G., Cherbakov D.Y., Sitnikova T.Y.

The Posolskaya Bank methane seep (southern Baikal, depths of ~300–500 m) is characterized by weak metha-ne discharge and the deep occurrence of gas hydrates. The species composition and distribution of nematodes from 44 samples of meiozoobenthos on the seeps (gas unloading point and gas hydrate) and background stations were analyzed. 31 species of nematodes from 12 genera, 8 families and 6 orders were identified; 94% of them were found at background stations and/or in other areas of the lake. The ratio of Baikal endemic and Siberian-Palearctic species was 6 : 1. Endemic species of the genera Paratrilobus and Tripyla dominated occurrence frequency and population density. The data obtained on the heterogeneous distribution of nematodes, the relationship between the density of their population and the presence of filaments of sulfur bacteria, copepod detritus, and ferromanganese crusts in the bottom sediments, as well as the habitation of worms with different types of food. These data are discussed.

Loskutova O.A., Baturina M.A.

The benthic communities in some large tundra lake ecosystems of European Russia are well-studied, but information on zoobenthos in small shallow tundra lakes is still insufficient. This article presents original information on the taxonomic structure, species composition, and quantitative development of macrozoobenthos communities in 26 small lakes of the Malozemelskaya Tundra and Bolshezemelskaya Tundra areas (July 2000–2014). In regards to the quantitative indicators of abundance, these water bodies are similar to other small water bodies at these latitudes. The biomass variation in wide ranges among lakes is caused by different dominant taxa. The species composition of macrozoobenthos is diverse. Oligochaetes, mollusks, and chironomids are highly rich in species composition, which generally corresponds to the trend identified for other water bodies of the Arctic tundra area.

Bespalaya Y.V., Travina O.V., Tomilova A.A., Khrebtova I.S., Aksenova O.V., Aksenov A.S., Vinarskii M.V., Kondakov A.V., Nekhaev I.O., Palatov D.M., Spitsyn V.M., Shevchenko A.R., Bolotov I.N.

It is established that the mollusk fauna of Kolguev Island (eastern part of the Barents Sea) is represented by 20–22 species of freshwater mollusks, of which 13 have been identified for the first time. The mollusk fauna of the island belongs to widespread Palearctic and Holarctic species. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to study the relationship between environmental factors and the density of the freshwater mollusk. According to our data, the joint influence of the substrate type, the abundance of algae, and the chemical composition of water plays a significant role in the distribution of mollusks in the studied water bodies and watercourses. An analysis of gene sequences of 16S rRNA samples of bivalve species of the family Sphaeriidae showed that the specimens from Kolguev Island, Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, Vaygach Island, Yamal Peninsula, Gydan Peninsula, Europe, Siberia, the Far East, China, and North America have identical haplotypes or differ by one or two nucleotide substitutions. The molecular data indicate that the mollusk fauna of Kolguev Island is a result of recent migration after the digression of the ice. The dispersal of freshwater mollusks to the island could occur both through natural settlements through water systems and with waterfowl.

Baturina M.A., Fefilova E.B.

This study presents an analysis of the species richness and diversity of microcrustaceans (Cladocera, Cyclopoida, and Harpacticoida) and Oligochaeta from the zoobenthos of streams and waterbodies of the Pechora River delta, Korovinskaya Bay and the lakes of its islands, and an adjacent section of the continental Malozemelskaya tundra. We have identified 87 species and forms. It is shown that, due to the heterogeneity of habitats and environmental conditions, the delta is characterized by a specific composition of the fauna of these groups of invertebrates, as well as the specific structure of taxocenoses. According to the Shannon–Wiener (HN), Pielou (E), Simpson (DS), and Whittaker’s (βw) indexes, the highest diversity of the groups is recorded in the streams and waterbodies of the delta; the lowest is in the surveyed area of the Malozemelskaya tundra. Based on our analysis, it is concluded that benthic Cladocera, Cyclopoida, and Oligochaeta are the most effective biodiversity indicators in the Pechora basin in its lower course. This is demonstrated by the cross-taxon correlation data on the species richness of these groups per sample.