Digital platoform

Wiley

Chironomids as Indicators of Biodiversity and Isolation Patterns in a Balkan Karst Biodiversity Hotspot

ABSTRACT Aim Our research aimed to assess the beta diversity of Chironomidae (Diptera) and faunal connections across springs, streams, and rivers within the Skadar Lake basin, a Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot, using DNA barcoding. Location Skadar Lake basin—a Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot. Methods...

Download 2026 Paul D. N. Hebert , Tomasz Rewicz , Evgeny Zakharov , Tomasz Mamos , Piotr Gadawski , Robert Sobczyk , Vladimir Pešić , Jayme E. Sones , Michał Grabowski

MDPI AG

Seasonal Variation Outweighs Spatial Variation in Lotic Water Mite Communities in a Mediterranean Mountain

Water mites (Hydrachnidia) are diverse, ecologically important arachnids that can serve as effective bioindicators; however, their communities in Mediterranean mountain rivers are scarcely documented. The present study provides a comprehensive analysis of water mite communities in mountain rivers of Serra da Estrela (Portugal), assessing how abundance, genus richness, and community composition vary across seasons, among rivers, and along an elevational gradient. Water mites were sampled in twelve...

Download 2026 Sónia Ferreira , Dinis Girão , Luís P. da Silva , Vladimir Pešić

MDPI AG

Thermal Ecology of Hermann’s Tortoise, Testudo hermanni and Glass Lizard Pseudopus apodus in a Seasonal Environment

The importance of temperature for the biology and ecology of reptiles is well known. In temperate regions where temperatures fluctuate on a daily and seasonal basis, reptiles must respond appropriately to maintain body temperatures that enable activity. In this study, we describe temporal changes in the thermal environment from January to December in Montenegro and the impact on two species of reptile, Hermann’s tortoise, Testudo hermanni, and the large, legless lizard Pseudopus apodus. These reptiles...

Download 2025 Roger Meek , Vladimir Pešić , Ana Vujović

MDPI AG

The Pond Snails of the Genus Radix (Gastropoda, Lymnaeidae) in Issyk-Kul Lake (Central Asia), with a Review of Radix in Ancient Tectonic Lakes of the World

Lake Issyk-Kul, situated in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, is one of the largest lakes in Central Asia. Though this brackish-water basin holds only a species-poor fauna of molluscs, the number of species inhabiting Issyk-Kul and their true taxonomic position remain unsatisfactorily studied. Most nominal species of Mollusca reported from Issyk-Kul are known from empty shells only and have never been studied molecularly. This study reports the results of a revision of the genus Radix (Gastropoda:Hygrophila:Lymnaeidae)...

Download 2025 Ivan N. Bolotov , Olga V. Aksenova , Maxim V. Vinarski , Vladimir Pešić , Victor R. Alekseev , Alexander V. Kondakov , Irina S. Khrebtova , Vitaly M. Spitsyn

Pensoft Publishers

Water mite diversity from southwestern Türkiye through the lens of the DNA barcodes, with the description of one new species (Acari, Hydrachnidia)

This study presents the molecular and morphological results from an analysis of water mites collected in southwestern Türkiye. 83 COI barcodes are provided, clustered into 40 BINs, with 23 BINs being unique and deposited for the first time in the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD). The first DNA barcodes for eight water mite species are uploaded into the BOLD database. In total, 34 water mite species were identified and one of them, Iranothyas marismortui (Gerecke, 1999) is newly reported from...

Download 2025 Milica Jovanović , İskender Gülle , Harry Smit , Vladimir Pešić , Andrzej Zawal , Pınar Gülle , Aleksandra Bańkowska , Stanisław Musielak

MDPI AG

Application of the River Habitat Survey Method in the Assessment of the Human Pressure Within the Lowland River Catchment: The Mollusc Biodiversity Versus Habitat Features

The objectives of our study were to analyse the degree of human pressure within the lowland river catchment in relation to the mollusc communities and to assess the usefulness of the River Habitat Survey as a field method in determining the human pressure in the mollusc biodiversity context. The River Habitat Survey (RHS), an essential method for hydromorphological studies of rivers under the requirements of the European Union Water Framework Directive, was applied. This study showed that the diversity...

Download 2024 Grzegorz Michoński , Przemysław Śmietana , Joanna Pakulnicka , Iga Lewin , Agnieszka Szlauer-Łukaszewska , Dominik Zawadzki , Vladimir Pešić , Robert Stryjecki , Edyta Stępień-Zawal , Andrzej Zawal , ... Pogledajte sve

Informa UK Limited

Descriptions of a new species and undescribed sexes of two water mite species from Uttarakhand, India (Acari, Hydrachnidia)

Download 2024 Pankaj Bahuguna , Harry Smit , Vladimir Pešić , Emina Kijevcanin , Rajesh Rayal , Neha Sharma , Kumbhlesh Kamal Rana

Acarological Studies, DergiPark

Contributions to the knowledge of the water mite fauna (Acariformes, Hydrachnidia) of Türkiye with descriptions of two new species

In this study, water mites have been collected from running waters and springs in Elazığ province (Eastern Türkiye). Totally, twenty species are identified. The families, Hydrovolziidae and Feltriidae are newly recorded from Elazığ province. Atractides (Atractides) ermani sp. nov. and A. (Atractides) elazigensis sp. nov. are described as new to science. Additionally, the recent list of known number of species of water mite in Türkiye by provinces is given based on published data with an overall...

Download 2024 Yunus ESEN , Vladimir Pešić

MDPI AG

Drivers of the Structure of Mollusc Communities in the Natural Aquatic Habitats along the Valley of a Lowland River: Implications for Their Conservation through the Buffer Zones

The objectives of our survey were to determine the most important environmental factors within buffer zones that influenced mollusc communities and to evaluate the ecological conservation value of natural aquatic habitats (NAHs) that support mollusc species. Analysis of the spatial structure of buffer zones and catchments was based on a set of landscape metrics. Land cover classes were determined, and buffer zones within a radius of 500 m from a sampling point were marked out. Mollusc samples were...

Download 2023 Grzegorz Michoński , Joanna Pakulnicka , Iga Lewin , Agnieszka Szlauer-Łukaszewska , Izabela Szućko-Kociuba , Edyta Stępień , Vladimir Pešić , Robert Stryjecki , Andrzej Zawal , Zuzanna Krzynówek , ... Pogledajte sve

Research Square Platform LLC

DNA barcode-based survey documents underestimated diversity and intricate phylogeographic patterns of aquatic Heteroptera in an endangered Balkan biodiversity hotspot: ancient Lake Skadar basin

Abstract Lake Skadar with its surrounding springs, wetlands and larger affluents is among the most diverse freshwater ecosystems in the Mediterranean region and a key biodiversity/endemism hotspot in Europe. It is also highly endangered due to climate change and rapid tourism development in the area. Being abundant, diverse and mostly predatory, true aquatic bugs play an important role in the functioning of freshwater ecosystems and are used as indicators of aquatic habitat quality. Nevertheless,...

Download 2023 Tomasz Rewicz , Grzegorz Tończyk , Tomasz Mamos , Piotr Gadawski , Vladimir Pešić , Andrzej Zawal , Łukasz Trębicki , Michał Grabowski