Cladocera communities in surface sediments of seven lakes were sampled from the Mediterranean
to north Hungary. Conductivity, pH, primary ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cl-, SO42-,
HCO3-, CO32-) and macrophyte coverage were mea-sured as contributed environmental
parameters for the distribution of cladoceran communities across the lakes. Thirty-two
cladoceran species were found in the seven lakes. The recorded species have wide tolerance
spectra, and are able to colonize very different kind of habitats. The most common
and abundant species were Chydorus sphaericus, Alona rectangula and Bosmina longirostris.
Lake area, latitude, macrophyte coverage, pH, conductivity and hardness were found
to be the most determinant environmental variables in the distribution of cladoceran
species. This study re-vealed that although the lakes show a clear separation in environmental
parameters the composition and distribution of Cladoceran communities differ only
slightly across the investigated geographical gradient.
