| Summary: | Stonefly samples were collected from disturbed
and undisturbed tributaries of the Tatra Mountains streams
(the West Carpathians). In the autumn, at stable low
discharge, the total density of stoneflies was significantly
higher in the undisturbed streams. Microhabitats such as
macrolithal (boulders), mesolithal (stones) and moss had
higher stonefly density. Taxa of different species or genera
have different demands for microhabitats. Very narrow
spatial niches were found for the genera Rhabdiopteryx,
Protonemura and Perlodes. The spatial niche overlap was
low between the genera Rhabdiopteryx and Brachyptera,
but was high between species of the Protonemura and
Leucra genera. The highest biodiversity of stoneflies was
on coarser substrata (except boulders) and moss, the
lowest biodiversity was on the finer substrata. Among
the organic substrata, a significantly lower coefficient
of stonefly α-diversity variation was recorded in mosses
compared to submerged wood and roots.
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