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Soil macrofauna (Diplopoda, Chilopoda, Oniscidea) under restored flood conditions in meadow and forest habitats in South Moravia, Czech Republic
Tajovský, Karel
Floodplain habitats in the alluvium of the Morava and Dyje rivers, Czech Republic, were strongly affected by changes in water regime conditioned by regulation measures in the past centuries. These negative changes resulted in the cessation of regular floods, decline of groundwater level and subsequently in dramatic changes of characteristic vegetation as well as animal assemblages. Therefore activities aimed at more thorough analysis and restoration and revitalization projects were undertaken in nineties. Specific extreme conditions in the regularly flooded biotopes are determining for the existence of the specific soil invertebrate assemblages including millipedes (Diplopoda), centipedes (Chilopoda) and terrestrial isopods (Oniscidea). Long termed pitfall trapping processed in forest and meadow habitats in the years 1993-2001 enable us to evaluate the impact of restoration of regular floods and improving water regime on these terrestrial invertebrates. While the animal assemblages in floodplain forest (Ranšpurk National Nature Reserve) showed to be more conservative towards restoration processes, those in flooded meadow (Křivé jezero National Nature Reserve) dramatically stressed by previous negative conditions well responded to improving water regime. Renewed inundations at this locality contributed to the return of parameters of natural wetland habitat. Low densities and the species typical for extreme flood conditions (centipede Lamyctes emarginatus, millipedes Julus scanicus and Leptoiulus cibdellus, terrestrial isopod Trachelipus rathkii) were monitored at this locality.
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