Diversity, spatiotemporal distribution, abundance, species composition and habitat preferences of Ostracoda in Akbuk and Akdeniz coastal mesosaline lagoons (Mugla, the South Aegean Region, Turkey)

Akdeniz and Akbuk lagoons are part of a shallow coastal ecosystem of great aesthetic and ecological importance, located in Mugla Province in the southern Aegean region of Turkey. In the present study, four expeditions to collect ostracods from these lagoons were conducted in May, July, October, and November of 2008. Benthic samples were obtained monthly and several environmental factors were recorded simultaneously in situ. The ecological preferences of the ostracods were monitored, and qualitative and quantitative samples were collected from three sites in Akdeniz lagoon and two sites in Akbuk lagoon. Three ostracod taxa (Cyprideis torosa, Loxoconcha elliptica and Cytherois fischeri) were identified from the Akdeniz lagoon sampling sites and one species (Cyprideis torosa) from the Akbuk lagoon sampling sites. We present and analyze the dominance and distribution of ostracod assemblages and their relationships to environmental factors: temperature, dissolved oxygen, percentage oxygen saturation, pH, redox potential, salinity, and electrical conductivity) using classification and ordination techniques. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) is used to characterize the relationship between ostracods and the environmental variables. Approximately 82% of the correlation between the community composition and environmental variables was explained by the first axis of the CCA ordination for the Akdeniz lagoon. The study revealed that the distribution and population density of ostracod species depends on the physicochemical properties of the environment. The reason for this is that Cyprideis torosa and Loxoconcha elliptica are euryhaline species

Diversity, spatiotemporal distribution, abundance, species composition and habitat preferences of Ostracoda in Akbük and Akdeniz coastal mesosaline lagoons (Muğla, the South Aegean Region, Turkey)

Akdeniz and Akbuk lagoons are part of a shallow coastal ecosystem of great aesthetic and ecological importance, located in Mugla Province in the southern Aegean region of Turkey. In the present study, four expeditions to collect ostracods from these lagoons were conducted in May, July, October, and November of 2008. Benthic samples were obtained monthly and several environmental factors were recorded simultaneously in situ. The ecological preferences of the ostracods were monitored, and qualitative and quantitative samples were collected from three sites in Akdeniz lagoon and two sites in Akbuk lagoon. Three ostracod taxa (Cyprideis torosa, Loxoconcha elliptica and Cytherois fischeri) were identified from the Akdeniz lagoon sampling sites and one species (Cyprideis torosa) from the Akbuk lagoon sampling sites. We present and analyze the dominance and distribution of ostracod assemblages and their relationships to environmental factors: temperature, dissolved oxygen, percentage oxygen saturation, pH, redox potential, salinity, and electrical conductivity) using classification and ordination techniques. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) is used to characterize the relationship between ostracods and the environmental variables. Approximately 82% of the correlation between the community composition and environmental variables was explained by the first axis of the CCA ordination for the Akdeniz lagoon. The study revealed that the distribution and population density of ostracod species depends on the physicochemical properties of the environment. The reason for this is that Cyprideis torosa and Loxoconcha elliptica are euryhaline species

Distribution, diversity and some ecological characteristics of ostracods (Crustacea: Ostracoda) in Gokceada (Imbros) Island (Northern Aegean Sea, Turkey)

The aim of this study was to determine the environmental factors affecting distribution and diversity of ostracods (Crustacea: Ostracoda) in the inland waters of the northern Aegean Sea island of Gokceada (Imbros), Turkey. Over a period of one year, sampling of ostracods was performed in order to estimate the composition, richness, and diversity of the ostracod assemblages from the Gokceada Island. A total of 18 ostracod species were identified from 28 sampling sites during the course of the study. In both winter and summer seasons, Heterocypris salina (Brady, 1868) and Cyprideis torosa (Jones, 1850) were the most abundant species. Heterocypris salina and Ilyocypris gibba (Ramdohr, 1808), were the most common species. The total number of ostracods was highest in the summer (June). During the study, the freshwater temperature varied between 10 and 29 degrees C, while salinity varied between 0.1 and 41.4%; the values of pH and dissolved oxygen ranged from 7.1 to 8.4 and 5.4 to 7.9 mg L-1, respectively. The diversity of the ostracods was calculated using the Shannon-Weaver diversity index. The highest diversity (H' = 3.427) was at macrophyte-rich sampling site 8, the lowest diversity (H' = 0) was at macrophyte-poor sites 15, 17, 19, and 22. The numbers of cosmopolitan (10 species) and widespread ostracods (2 species) were higher than those of non-cosmopolitans. A close relationship exists between distribution of ostracod species and the physicochemical features of waters and typology of water resources, considering that most of the water resources on the island are fountains and their troughs and that their waters have similar physicochemical properties

ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SPATIO-TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION, ABUNDANCE, AND DIVERSITY OF OSTRACODA (CRUSTACEA) SPECIES IN A COASTAL LAGOON: KAMIL ABDUS LAGOON (ISTANBUL, TURKEY)

Kamil Abdus (Balik) Lagoon, a coastal lagoon located in the Sea of Marmara (Turkey), is threatened by human activities, as are many of the aquatic habitats in Turkey. The supplying of new knowledges for biodiversity conservation from threatened habitats is quite important for the conservation of them. The lagoon's species composition, and their temporal and spatial distribution, diversity, and dominance were investigated and the results were correlated with the environmental variables. As shown in the analyses (Spearman's correlation, CCA), distribution of ostracod species are associated with salinity values. Twenty-one ostracod species were identified from the four stations sampled between February 2016 and January 2017 in Kamil Abdus Lagoon (Istanbul, Turkey). The most abundant species were determined as Cyprideis torosa, Aurila arborescens, Loxoconcha rhomboidea, Xestoleberis communis, and Xestoleberis aurantia. The ostracod fauna in Kamil Abdus Lagoon include 13 species of littoral to sublittoral/phytal marine forms, one brackish (euryhaline) form (Cyprideis torosa), and six halophilic freshwater continental forms. The results show that the physico-chemical conditions and morphologic structure of the lagoon has to be protected with last status and highlighted the need of strong policies for wetlands protection. We believe that our results concerning the ostracod ecology in Turkey lagoons can be of use for understanding of changes in enviromental conditions

Ecological interactions and the distribution, abundance, and diversity of ostracod species associated with some coastal brackish karstic springs in southwest Turkey

Ostracod species obtained from five coastal karstic brackish water springs on the Aegean Sea coastline were evaluated using multivariate statistical methods. Information on the diversity and distribution of ostracod fauna associated with coastal brackish karstic springs and on the ecological factors affecting them was obtained. A total of eight ostracod species were identified in five karstic brackish springs (southwest Aegean region, Turkey) in May, July, October, and December 2016. Cyprideis torosa (Jones, 1850) and Loxoconcha elliptica (Brady, 1868) were the most abundant species. The three main clustering groups in an unweighted pair group mean averages (UPGMA) dendrogram created by Jaccard's coefficient test provided an understanding of the faunal similarity among the sampling stations. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to explain the relationships between the species and environmental variables. Results revealed that salinity, water-flow velocity, and distance to the sea were the most significant factors in species diversity and composition in the five coastal karstic brackish springs. Results of the Spearman correlation analysis showed significant correlations between ostracod species and environmental variables. Protection should be put in place for the five karstic brackish springs for their long-term preservation. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved