Habitat fragmentation and its effects on groundwater populations.

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Publication Date

January 2011

Abstract

The subterranean unsaturated zone of the karstic areas is highly fragmented. The maze of more or less connected voids harbors simple communities of mixed surface and subterranean species, especially crustaceans. Hypogean species are dominant in almost all communities of the seven stations sampled monthly in a cave of the north‐western Romania. Water stable isotopes and drip rates were used to understand the morphological and spatial organization of the subterranean habitats in the unsaturated zone. The structure of the cave communities, the species synchrony and the spatial structure and variation of communities at different geographical levels are discussed in conservation terms.

Keywords

Cave Crustacea, Metacommunity, Habitat Fragmentation, Drip Water, Stable Isotopes

Document Type

Article

Notes

Ecohydrology, Vol. 5, no. 4 (2011).

Identifier

SFS0071353_00001

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