engleski

Trophic structure of ciliate associations in periphytic communities in karstic waters

Ciliate species have a wide variation of cell size and shape, and deploy a variety of feeding mechanisms to consume the variety of food resources, ranging in size from bacteria to animal tissue (FINLEY et al. 1993, DOLAN 1991). Many recent studies have shown that ciliates play a very important trophic role in periphytic communities (e.g. CARLOUGH & MEYER 1990, SLEIGH et al. 1992). In periphyton communities of the karstic waters, ciliates, a heterotrophic component, play a considerable role in overgrowth processes and travertine formation (PRIMC-HABDIJA et al. 1997). For this reason knowledge of environmental conditions responsible for the trophic structure of ciliate associations is very important information for the explanation of their trophic role. The objective of this study was to establish how the community and trophic structure of the periphytic ciliate assemblage is influenced by the type of vegetation cover in the lotic and lentic environments of the karstic habitats.

ciliata ; trophic structure ; periphyton ; current velocity ; karsic waters

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