We identified the beetle fauna of springs of a small lowland river and attempted to determine the direction and magnitude of beetle migration between the springs and neighboring water bodies in the river valley, as well as the local environmental factors and landscape parameters that most influence the character of aquatic beetle assemblages in the springs. We studied springs of three limnological types, along the entire length of the river valley, and identified 42 beetle species. All types of springs were dominated by stagnobiontic species, which enter springs from other aquatic environments, mainly via dispersion by air. We also found a small proportion of crenophiles and a substantial proportion of rheophiles and tyrphophiles, which was linked to the close proximity of the river and dystrophic water bodies. The fauna of the springs was affected to a similar degree by local environmental factors and by landscape factors acting on a broader scale. This indicates the need for broader consideration of landscape factors, which are often neglected in ecological studies. Nous avons identifié la faune des coléoptères des sources d’une petite rivière de plaine et tenté de déterminer la direction et l’ampleur de la migration des coléoptères entre les sources et les plans d’eau voisins dans la vallée, ainsi que les facteurs environnementaux locaux et les paramètres du paysage qui influencent le plus le caractère des assemblages de coléoptères aquatiques dans les sources. Nous avons étudié les sources de trois types limnologiques, sur toute la longueur de la vallée de la rivière, et identifié 42 espèces de coléoptères. Tous les types de sources ont été dominés par des espèces stagnobiontes qui viennent d’autres milieux aquatiques, principalement par dispersion par voie aérienne. Nous avons également constaté une faible proportion de crénophiles et une proportion importante de rhéophiles et tyrphophiles, qui a été reliée à la proximité de plans d’eau et rivières dystrophiques. La faune des sources a été affectée à un degré similaire par des facteurs environnementaux locaux et par des facteurs paysagers agissant sur une plus grande échelle. Cela souligne la nécessité d’un examen plus large des facteurs de paysage, qui sont souvent négligés dans les études écologiques.

The effect of urbanization is often reflected both in lotic and lentic habitats, through changes in diversity and structural and compositional changes in macroinvertebrate communities. In this study, we focused on macroinvertebrate assemblage in lotic and lentic ecosystems of the Krąpiel River catchment area (NW Poland) with the following aims: (1) to determine the main driver in structuring lotic and lentic macroinvertebrate communities and the factors that influence them in urban versus rural landscapes; (2) to test whether the diversity of macroinvertebrate assemblages in urban lotic/lentic ecosystems is lower than that in rural landscapes; (3) to identify characteristic macroinvertebrate species for urban and rural lotic/lentic ecosystems; to (4) determine species tolerance ranges and species optimums, with special emphasis on characteristic “urban” and “rural” species. Distance from study sites to built-up areas and conductivity were the main factors contributing to the separation of urban vs. rural habitats. For lotic sites, temperature, the percentage of built-up area, insolation, and oxygen concentration were the main factors significantly associated with changes in community composition. For lentic sites, insolation, temperature, and BOD₅ were recognized as the main factors which are significantly associated with changes in community composition. The results for lentic habitats were as expected: average species richness was higher in rural than in urban habitats. The characteristic species for each of the four habitat groups included Mideopsis orbicularis for Lentic rural habitats; Hygrobates longipalpis for Lotic rural habitats; Piona sp. for Lentic urban habitats; Mideopsis crassipes for Lotic urban habitats. Hygrobates longipalpis and Piona sp. were at the opposite sides with respect to the degree of urbanization. Result of this investigation has shown that the impact of urbanization and consequently the implementation of conservation measures should be viewed separately within the lentic and lotic gradient.

The objectives of our survey were to determine the most important environmental factors within buffer zones that influenced mollusc communities and to evaluate the ecological conservation value of natural aquatic habitats (NAHs) that support mollusc species. Analysis of the spatial structure of buffer zones and catchments was based on a set of landscape metrics. Land cover classes were determined, and buffer zones within a radius of 500 m from a sampling point were marked out. Mollusc samples were collected from each NAHs. Our results showed that the number of patches and mean patch size were most associated with the distribution of mollusc species. Within patches of buffer zones, the length of the catchment boundaries with low-density housing, an increasing area of forest and pH of the water were also significant. Our results proved that landscape metrics provide essential information about catchment anthropogenic transformation. Therefore, landscape metrics and the designated buffer zones should be included in restoration plans for the river, water bodies and adjacent habitats as elements of modern, sustainable water management. NAHs located along a valley of a lowland river provide refuges for molluscs, play an essential role in the dispersal of IAS, create important protective biogeochemical barriers for rivers, constitute necessary sources of moisture and water and support microhabitats for distinct mollusc communities, especially in the context of global warming.

Here we redescribe the nine original species of Pintalia Stål, 1862 (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Cixiidae) based on type specimens from Brazil and provide an emended diagnosis for the genus. We provide an amended description of P. constellaris (Walker, 1858) with images of the fresh specimen. Furthermore, we describe twelve new species recently found in Brazilian caves in three proposed species-groups: Pintalia pictipennis-group, which includes P. pictipennis Stål, 1862, P. propria Muir, 1934, P. minuta sp. nov., P. minima sp. nov., P. magnaepiprocti sp. nov., P. serratilis sp. nov. and P. stali sp. nov.; Pintalia constellaris-group, which includes P. constellaris (Walker, 1858), P. ecuadorensis Muir, 1934, P. speciosa sp. nov and P. fennahi sp. nov.; and Pintalia painensis-group, which includes P. painensis sp. nov., P. dorensis sp. nov., P. lundi sp. nov., P. montalvaniensis sp. nov., and P. muiri sp. nov. Adults and nymphs of the new species herein described were observed inside caves feeding on roots from epigean vegetation and are hence tentatively classified as subtroglophiles, eutroglophiles and troglobionts. The new species were collected from caves in Minas Gerais state and Bahia state. A key to the Brazilian species-groups and new species is provided. Information on the distribution, depository, and a list of previously described taxa from Brazil are also provided. The species described herein increases the number of Pintalia species described for Brazil to thirty-two, and ninety-four in the Americas in total.

Until now, very little is known about the ability of adult and deutonymph water mites (Acari, Hydrachnidia) to survive in sub-zero temperatures. Information concerns mainly water mites from vernal astatic waters, and the knowledge has never been experimentally verified. To determine the sensitivity of water mites to freezing, experiments were conducted on (1) the impact of acclimatization, (2) temperature, and (3) duration of freezing on survival, (4) the survival rate of water mites from various types of water bodies, and (5) the survival rate of water mites from different climatic zones. The experiments were carried out in a phytotron chamber, and water mites were placed in containers (10 × 10 × 5 cm) filled with 4/5 of water for 10 specimens each. Water mites were identified to the species level after finishing the experiments. The temperature was lowered 1 °C every hour until the target temperature was reached. After a certain period of freezing (depending on the treatment) the temperature was raised by 1 °C every hour until it reached 4 °C. The time of the experiment was measured from the moment the desired temperature was reached (below 0 °C) until the ice thawed and the temperature of 4 °C was reached again. The highest survival rates had Limnochares aquatica, Piona nodata, Sperchon clupeifer and Lebertia porosa, followed by L. insignis, Hygrobates longipalpis, H. setosus, Limnesia undulatoides, Piona pusilla, Arrenurus globator, Hydrodroma despiciens, Piona longipalpis, Sperchonopsis verrucosa, Unionicola crassipes and Mideopsis crassipes; no specimens of Torrenticola amplexa survived. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) water mites can survive freezing to −2 °C, lower temperatures are lethal for them; (2) they survived better the short period of freezing (24–48 h) than the long period (168 h); (3) resistance to freezing seems to be an evolutionary trait of individual species, only partly related to the living environment; and (4) freezing survival rates are linked to the region of Europe and are much lower in Southern than in Central Europe.

In the European Union, assessments of the quality of the aquatic environment based on aquatic invertebrates are mandatory. Biological methods are supplemented with hydromorphological assessments of watercourses. There are many studies analysing the relationships between aquatic invertebrates and the hydromorphological assessment of the environment by the River Habitat Survey (RHS) method, but thus far, there has been no detailed study including water mites (Acari, Hydrachnidia) and the application of this method. In the present study, the following research hypothesis was put forth: a hydromorphological characterization of habitats is a significant element explaining the nature of water mite communities, and the RHS method can be used to predict the characteristics of Hydrachnidia populations in a river. The research was carried out in a small lowland river, the River Krąpiel (north-western Poland). Six locations were selected as representative of some state of habitat modification for the assessment of the hydromorphological conditions of the river and the collection of biological samples. The following conclusions can be drawn from the research: (1) the biology and ecology of water mites make them suitable as bioindicators of the environment, including hydromorphological modifications, and (2) the hydromorphological characteristics of habitats explain the nature of water mite communities in the river at the level of general population parameters (number of specimens and species), while at the species level, general regularities in water mite fauna distribution in river ecosystems, the continuity of the river ecosystem, and characteristics at a smaller spatial scale (habitat scale) better explain water mite community structure than the hydromorphological indices determined for a given site or section of the river.