Research of different types of peatbogs: relationships of bioceonosis structures and physico - chemical parameters

The majority of ecological research on the food web has so far focused more on sea and lake ecosystems than on peatbog habitats. The primary objectives of this paper were to analyze the protozoa, metazoa, and macroinvertebrate assemblages in different types of peatbogs, and to assess the influence of potential predators on protozoa communities. Sampling was done in six peatbogs from May to October 2012 in a transect including lagg and open peatbog. The results of DCA analysis showed that Axis and Axis 2 explained 49.8% of the total variance in composition of studied zoocenosis. The distribution of samples in ordination space led us to conclude that studied habitats are distributed along the falling gradient of water level and rising gradient of total organic carbon and nitrate nitrogen. Nevertheless, the number of significant correlations between the main groups of organisms forming the food web was different among sites, and in highmoore peatbogs the relationships between food web components were the strongest.