Classification of the communities of Hydradephaga (Coleoptera) from the Spanish Pyrenees

Summary

More than 200 samples and 11.000 specimens of Hydradephaga (Coleoptera: Haliplidae, Gyrinidae, Hygro-biidae, Noteridae and Dytiscidae) have been collected in the Spanish Pyrenees between 1984 and 1990. The communities have been studied using TWINSPAN. In both classifications (sites and species) the first split is between lotie and lentie habitats, the final groups being characterized by other variables (e.g. size, amount of vegetation, conductivity or water transparency). Multiple Discriminant Analysis of the groups assigns correctly more than 80 % of the items, both for the species and for sites.