Data on the Odonata fauna of the Natura 2000 site [611290]

BIHAREAN BIOLOGIST 7 (2): pp.99-103 ©Biharean Biologist, Oradea, Romania, 2013
Article No.: 131118 http://biozoojournals.3x. ro/bihbiol/index.html

Data on the Odonata fauna of the Natura 2000 site
“Lunca Inferioar ă a Crișului Repede” (ROSCI-0104), Bihor County, NW Romania

Cristian TRIPON1 and Diana CUP ȘA2,*

1. MSc candidate in Biology, University of Oradea, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, Universitatii str. 1, 410087 – O radea, Romania.
2. University of Oradea, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Biology, Universitatii str. 1, 410087 – Oradea, Romania.
* Corresponding author, D. Cup șa, E-mail: [anonimizat]

Received: 16. February 2013 / Accepted: 13. November 2013 / Available online: 29. November 2013 / Printed: December 2013

Abstract. This article presents the Odonata species identified in the protected area ROSCI0104 “Lunca inferioar ă a Crișului Repede”
from Cri șul Repede River, Bihor County, Romania. During this study we have identified 12 species belonging to 6 families, 10
genres of the 2 suborders of Odonata (Aniso ptera and Zygoptera). After the collected data were processed, we can affirm that th e
investigated site has a rich Odonata fauna comparing to the area surface of the site and according to the richness chart sugges ted by
Devai and Miskolci (1987).

Key words: fauna, Odonata, protected species, Natura 2000, Cri șul Repede.

Introduction

Odonata fauna from Romania has for sure 70 species (Manci
2012), and another number of 14 species with non-confirmed
stable populations (Manci 2012) from the 120 cited species of
Europe (Dijkstra 2006). These represent a small proportion of
the 5800 inventoried Odonata species from the word (Schorr
et al. 2012). All Odonata species are predators both in larval
and adult stage. They have an important role in the living
habitats by controlling other inse ct populations (Fincke et al.
1997, Bulimar 1984).
In Romania the Odonata faun a is not completely known.
There are regions of the coun try where the studies are nu-
merous, for example: Danube Delta (e.g. Kuhlmann 1965, Is-voreanu & Boghian 1980, Griebler 1994), Banat (e.g. Manci
2005a, 2005b, 2006), Carpathian Mountains (e.g. Cârdei 1955,
Manci 2005c, Flenker 2011), Romanian Moldavia (e.g. Cârdei 1956a, Nicoar ă et al. 2000, Patriche & Manci 2008), Transyl-
vania (e.g. Alexinschi 1937, Hu ber 2004), Oltenia (e.g. Cârdei
1956b, Rogoz 1977). In other part of the country the Odonata
studies are scarce (e.g. Maramure ș – Cârdei & Borcea 1957,
Someș River Basin – Huber 1999, 2000, Romanian Plain –
Popescu-Gorj 1989, Tur Valley – Szállassy 2008) or com-pletely lacking. Many of these studies where made several
years ago, so in some cases th e original habitats can modi-
fied during the time. In our study area the researches are few
and relatively old, they do no t concern exactly the site inves-
tigated by us, but the surroundings of Oradea city (Arnold 1988, Paina 1970).
Our observations about the Odonata fauna were made
with the aim to have an initial inventory of this insect group
in the studied Natura 2000 si te and to complete the re-
searches in Bihor County, North-Western Romania.

Material and methods

The observations in field were made using the transect method, on a
pathway of approximately 50 km, along the 2000 ROSCI0104 site, di-vided in 16 sectors. The field obse rvations were performed from June
to October 2012, which correspond to the flight period for the most
of the species from the region.
The research area is situated along Cri șul Repede River (RO-
SCI0104, N47ș3'24'' E21ș43'41'' – Fig 1). The area has a surface of 656 ha and an average length of 101 km. It has a proportion of 36% from
its surface represented by rivers and lakes 26% crop fields 21% pas-tures 15% bogs and marshes 2% othe r agricultural lands. It is situ-
ated exclusively in the territory of Bihor county (http://www.mmediu.ro/protectia_naturii/biodiversitate/2011-10-20_protectia_naturii_RO_SCI_SDF_2011.pdf).

Figure 1. Map of site Nature 2000 ROSCI0104
(after: http://natura2000.mmediu.ro).

The specimens of Odonata where captured with an entomologi-
cal net and was photographed. We avoided their preservation to
prevent the numerical reduction of the rare populations. We deter-
mined the species in field or based on the photographs using specific
field guides (Djkistra 2006). We have calculated the abundances of suborders, families and genera, the sex’s ratio and the species rich-ness of the studied habitat (Devai & Miskolczi 1987).

Tripon, C. & Cup șa, D.
100

Table 1. Collected species from the investigated area.

Suborder Family Genera Species
Platycnemididae Platycnemis Platycnemis pennipes (Pallas,1771)
Ischnura Ischnura elegans (Vander Linnden,1820)
Coenagrionidae
Erythromma Erythromma najas (Hansemann,1823)
Zygoptera
Calopterygidae Calopteyix Calopteyix splendens (Harris,1782)
Aeschna Aeshna isoceles (Müler ,1767) Aeshnidae
Anax Anax imperator (Leach,1815)
Gomphidae Onychogomphus Onychogomphus forcipatus (Linnaeus,1758)
Crocothemis Crocothemis erythraea (Brullė,1832)
Orthetrum brunneum (Fonscolombe,1837)
Orthetrum cancellatum (Linnaeus,1758 Orthetrum
Orthetrum albistylum (Selys,1848) Anysoptera
Libellulidae
Sympetrum Sympetrum sanguineum (Müler ,1764)

Results

As a result of our researches we found in the investigated
area a number of 12 species from two suborders, 6 families and 10 genera (Table 1).
We have calculated the abundance of the suborders and
we find out that 27% of the species are from suborder Anisoptera and 73% belongs to Zygoptera (Fig. 2). The per-
centage abundances of the fam ilies (Fig. 3) reveals that the
founded dragonflies are in a proportion of 51% Plactynemi-dae, 21% Libellulidae, 18% Coenagrionidae, 5% Aeshnidae,
3%, Calopterigydae and 2% Gomphidae. From the point of
view of the genera percentage abundances (Fig. 4), we can observe the following order: Platycnemis (52%), Orthetrum
and Ischnura (14%), Sympetr um (5%), Calopteryx, Eryth-
romma and Aeschna (3%), Crocothemis, Onycogomphus and Anax (2%).
From the point of view of sex ratio we find out that in
the case of species Platycnemis pennipes, Ischnura elegans,
Aeshna isosceles, Orthetrum brunneum, Crocothemis erythraea,
Anax imperator we have identified more males than females
in field, in the case of Orthetrum cancellatum, Erythromma na-
jas, Orthetrum albistylum, Calopteryx splendens the number of
captured males and females was the same for each species,
and for Sympetrum sanguineum, Onychogomphus forcipatus we
captured more females than ma les. The differences between
the number of the specimens from the two sexes was small
for each species, due to the probability and as a result of this
study we can’t conclude about the sex ratio of the investi-
gated species, because of the small number of individuals
caught in the investigation period (Fig. 5).
Devai and Miskolczi (1987) propose a score for the Odo-
nata fauna depending on the studied habitat (Table 2). For
homogenous habitat they prop ose 2,5 points. Multiplicating
the score obtained based on the species frequency (52) with
the habitat score we have a to tal score which shows us the
species richness from the studied area (Table 2).
If we classify the species after the criteria of Devai and
Miskolczi (1987) (Table 3) we can see four of the species are frequent: Platycnemis pennipes, Ischnura elegans, Calopteryx
splendens, Sympetrum sanguineum ; 7 species are less frequent
Erythromma najas ,
Aeshna isosceles , Anax imperator, Croco-
themis erythraea, Orthetrum brunneum, Orthetrum cancellatum,
Orthetrum albistylum and a very rare species Onychogomphus
forcipatus .
Zygoptera
73%Anisoptera
27%

Calopterygidae
3%
Aeschnidae
5%
Gomphidae
2%
Libellulidae
21%Coenagrionidae
18%
Platycnemididae
51%

Figure 3. Abundances of species from different families.

Anax
2%Onycho gomphus
2%
Crocothemis
2%Aeschna
3% Calopteryx
3%
Erythromma
3%
Ischnura
14%Orthetrum
15%
Sympetrum
5%
Platycnemis
51%

Figure 4. Abundances of species from different genera.
Figure 2. Abundances of species
from the two suborders.

Odonata fauna of the Natura 2000 site ROSCI-0104
101

024681012141618
Platycnemis pennipes
Ischnura elegans
Erythromma najas
Calopteyix splendens
Aeshna isoceles
Anax imperator
Onychogomphus forcipatus
Crocothemis erythraea
Orthetrum brunneum
Orthetrum cancellatum
Orthetrum albistylum
Sympetrum sanguineumfemales males

Figure 5. Sex ratio of each species.

Table 2. Clasification proposed by Devai and Miskolczi 1987.

Points The quality of Odonta fauna
<160 I (very rich fauna)
105-160 II (rich fauna)
61-105 III (medium fauna)
25-60 IV (poor fauna)
25< V (very poor fauna)

Table 3. Frequency after Devai & Miskolczi 1987 (I-very rare; II-rare; III-less frequent; IV-frequent; V-very frequent);
specific habitat type after Cârdei & Bulimar (1965): I=lentic (stagnant water) II=lotic (running water).

No. Species name Frequency
(Devai & Miskolczi 1987) Series points
(Devai &Miskolczi 1987) Habitat type
(Cărdei & Bulimar 1965)
1. Platycnemis pennipes IV 2 I
2. Ischnura elegans IV 2 I
3. Erythromma najas III 4 I
4. Calopteyx splendens IV 2 II
5. Aeshna isoceles III 4 II
6. Anax imperator III 4 I
7. Onychogomphus forcipatus I 16 II
8. Crocothemis erythraea III 4 I
9. Orthetrum brunneum III 4 II
10. Orthetrum cancellatum III 4 I
11. Orthetrum albistylum III 4 II
12. Sympetrum sanguineum IV 2 I

In Table 3 we classified the species depending on the
preferred habitat (lentic or lotic) after the criteria proposed
by Cârdei and Bulimar (1969). The number of species char-
acteristic for lentic habitat is 7 and those characteristic for lotic habitat is 5.

Discussion
The characteristic species for stagnant waters are present in a
high number comparing of what we expect considering that
the habitat is a lotic one. This fact is due to the presence in
the proximity of the site of a series of ponds stretching 57 ha, and which have the purpose to compensate the water level
in the case of low inflow in the wastewater treatment plant
of Oradea and also for the biological phase of the waste wa-ter treatment. These ponds become a habitat for different
types of aquatic species (plants, fishes, bird) as well as of
Odonata larvae.
The studied site is rich in Odonata species, although the
observation period was relative ly. The species we have iden-
tified are new records in the area, because no studies in the
Natura 2000 site were made be fore. Surely most of the spe-
cies are common in lowland river courses so they were ex-
pectable to be find here.
The identification of 12 taxa in a few months reveals a
great richness of species comparing the 18 species of Odo-
nata founded in Tur River (Szállassy 2008), where the inves-
tigated habitat was bigger, the anthropic factor is less pre-sent comparing to ROSCI0104 „Lunca Inferioar ă a Crișului
Repede” where the human impact is very high represented
of silt extraction from the rive r, the fishing ponds nearby and

Tripon, C. & Cup șa, D.
102
the highly populated region (upstream is situated city of
Oradea and along the river th e following villages Sântan-
drei, Sântion, T ărian, Giri șu de Criș, Cheresig, Toboliu).
If we compare our results with the species identified on
the Prut River we can find out here the authors (Patriche & Manci 2008) made an inventory of 24 species during two
years and also encountered in this inventors formerly col-
lected specimens in 1966, whic h can be found at the “Gala ți
Museum”. The number of spec ies found in both studies is
10, in Lunca Prutului are lacking Erythromma najas and Ony-
cogomphus forcipatus . Some species identified by us ( Platy-
cnemis pennipes, Ischnura elegans, Sympetrum sanguineum )
have a wide distribution and in Romania they are found also
in mountainous areas as “Parcul Natural Vân ători Neam ț”
(see in: Manci 2005c). Another study in a mountainous river
(the Cibin River, Curtean-B ănăduc 2006) based on larval
samples, inventoried a number of eight Odonata species
there, with the same wide spread Platycnemis pennipes com-
mon with our inventory.
Comparing to the studies carried out in Danube Delta
which made an inventory of 23 species during three years of
study (1992-1994) (Griebler 1994) from our list seven are founded in both habitats. Comparing to the Some ș River
(Huber 2000) where the inventory consist from 26 species
eight were founded also in our study. The small number of common species in this case is determined by the fact that
the study carried out in the Some ș River concerned all its
length, do a greater diversity of habitats.
Three of the species found by us Aeschna isosceles,
Orthetrum brunneum , Onychogomphus forcipatus are protected
in Hungary (Jakab et al. 2002) but not also in Romania. Ac-
cording to existing data concerning these three species they
are not very frequent and thei r populations seems to have
small effectives so their protection may be considered in the
future. In these circumstances th e investigated site is valu-
able for Odonata species conservation.
The faunistical classification according to Devai and Mi-
skolczi (1987) put the observed species in the following cate-
gories: 4 species frequent, 7 species less frequent 1 species very rare. We consider that if the studies will be carried out
in the future they w ill lead to the identification of more spe-
cies, which will make this ar ea more valuable for Odonata
species conservation.
The distribution maps from the field guide of Djkistra
(2006) shows that two species Aeschna isosceles , Onychogom-
phus forcipatus are present on the te rritory of our country
only by isolated populations and species Erythromma najas
is
an uncommon presence in the area.
The species of Anisoptera suborder where almost one
third in percentage abundanc e comparing to the species
from Zygoptera order. This fact maybe is a result of the fact that Zygoptera are easier to catch and the most abundant
species with almost half of the all caught specimens was
Platycnemis pennipes . Analyzing the families from which are
part the identified species we observed that Platycnemididae
made up 51% of total individuals due especially to the high
abundance of Platycnemis pennipes. Families Aeshnidae (5%),
Calopterigydae (3%) and Gomphidae (2%) are represented
by rare species or some which are not considered rare (Djkistra 2006) as Calopteryx splendens but which was caught
in small number of individuals. From the point of view of genera Platycnemis has 52% of
abundance and the less abundant genera are Anax, Croco-themis and Onycogomphus each with 2%. From these Ony-
cogomphus forcipatus i s a rare s p eci es so w e d o n ot ex p ect a
high abundance of this species. Species Anax imperator and
Crocothemis erythraea are not rare in their habitat (Djkistra
2006), but due probably to th eir mobility and the sampling
period we captured a small number of individuals.
We noticed the great influence of the ponds from nearby
which are the property of the city’s waste water treatment
plant, also the presence of a fishery pond and which deter-
mine a great number of lentic species comparing to lotic
ones, as we expect along a river.
Odonata are sensitive indicato rs of biotic and abiotic
disorders and they are very valuable to evaluate the quality
of aquatic ecosystems (Devai & Miskolczi 1987). We can con-sider from the point of view of Odonata, that the investi-
gated site is rich in fauna, the environmental protection has
positive effects and they slow er the anthropogenic impact.
Although the close vicinity of the urban (city of Oradea) and
rural habitats (villages Sântion, Sântandrei, T ărian, Giri șu de
Criș, Cheresig, Toboliu) within an area of 2 km, can create an
anthropogenic impact by their waste water effluents which
increase the organic charge of the river, or by agriculture
which have a proven negative effect on Odonata fauna (Md Rawi et al. 2012, Hernandez et al. 2006).
The industrial activities an d the industrial development
potential of the area, the vicinity of the silt extracting area and a thermal power station which use fossil fuel especially
coal are potential threatening factors for this area.
For maintaining the actual state of the protected area it is
important to monitoring all the pollutant factors in the re-
gion as well as the biodiversity to be able to stop the degra-
dation of the environment as soon as it is observed.

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