STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF ZOOPERIPHYTON AND BENTHOS COMMUNITIES OF THE CHANNELS OF HEATED LAKES OF KONIŃSKIE DISTRICT

Aleksander A. Protasov; Bogusław Zdanowski; Olga O. Sinicyna; Siergiej A. Afanasjev; Jacek Tunowski

Aleksander A. Protasov
Bogusław Zdanowski
Olga O. Sinicyna
Siergiej A. Afanasjev
Jacek Tunowski

Keywords: LAKE, HEATED WATER, CHANNELS, ZOOPERIPHYTON, BOTTOM FAUNA, Dreissena polymorpha (Pall.), Unionidae, Bryozoa, BIOMASS, PRODUCTION, DESTRUCTION

Abstract

Zooperiphyton and benthos were studied in the supply and discharge channels connecting two coal power plants with five lakes. Eighty taxa of animals were recorded. The most interesting were two species of Chinese molluscs Anodonta spp. introduced into the lakes with the phytophagous fish from Hungary. Anodonta woodiana lives in the littoral, and the other species - more numerous and non-identified, in the warm discharge channels. The channels and their organisms play an important role in the self-purification process of Konińskie lakes. The degree of assimilation of organic matter by zooperiphyton and benthos of the channels was similar to that in the lake littoral.