Molluscs of extremely artificial, small temporary water bodies in a city park

Abstract

The Pole Mokotowskie Park in Warsaw contains small, artificial and temporary water bodies created in the 1970s and supplied with water from waterworks. In them, molluscs constituted the dominant group of macroinvertebrates. They were represented by eight gastropod and one bivalve species. Both Prosobranchia (mainly Bithynia tentaculata and Valvata piscinalis), and Pulmonata (mainly Radix balthica, Planorbis planorbis and Bathyomphalus contortus) occurred abundantly. The bivalve Musculium lacustre, listed in The Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species in Poland, was also numerous. A large spatial diversity of species composition and abundance of molluscs was observed in a small and relatively homogenous area. The role of this type of water bodies in the creation of mollusc habitats as well as the possibility of colonisation of man-made and artificially drained water bodies by these animals are discussed.