Species and Trophic Structure of Macrozoobenthos Community in Different Types of Littoral Zones in a Mesotrophic Lake

This article presents the results of a study of the species and trophic structure of the macrozoobenthos community in the littoral zone of mesotrophic Lake Obsterno (Republic of Belarus) having different macrophyte beds (Chara, reeds, and lily). The results of ANOVA have shown the influence of studied biotopes on the number of species and Shannon index. The number of species increased from summer to autumn, but the Shannon index was minimal in the middle of summer. Significant differences in species abundance between biotopes have been obtained for oligochaetes, chironomids, active filter feeders, and predators. There are no differences for Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera. The mean values of species similarity for the studied period are 68.9, 74.1, and 70.0% for reeds, lily, and Chara, respectively. The trophic similarity between groups were 66.3, 54.1, and 69.7%. Significant differences between species and trophic similarity are noted only for the lily beds. The values of variability of species structure during the period are higher than trophic structure; i.e., trophic structure is more stable when compared with species structure.