Patterns of Phytoplankton and Microphytobenthos Development in Channel Ecotones in the Goryn River

Abstract

Studies of phytoplankton and microphytobenthos of the Goryn' River demonstrated discrete-continual character of these communities' development, which reflects occurrence of ecotones in the channel and flood land system of the river. In ecotones, upstream and downstream them the species composition, dominant complexes and quantitative parameters changed, owing to specific features and hydrological conditions of the flow forming. The algal functional groups diagnostic technique was tested to assess state of the algal communities and revelation of their development specificity in the Goryn River, which enabled to reveal mechanisms of the algal communities' modifications in terms of the functional groups within the ecotones: pool, riffle, contact zone of the river channel and ameliorated flood land.