Inventory of a world hotspot of groundwater fauna biodiversity – the Lobau wetland and the Danube Floodplain National Park (Austria) revisited

The Danube Floodplain National Park is one of the largest protected floodplain areas in Central Europe. Situated in the east of Austria, it extends from the city of Vienna to the border with Slovakia. This area is not only a hotspot of biodiversity at the surface, but extraordinary species richness extends into the subterranean aquatic environments, i.e. the shallow groundwater habitats. Up to now, 44 species of true groundwater invertebrates (stygobionts) and 93 species of facultatively groundwater-dwelling invertebrates (stygophiles) have been recorded from the shallow aquifer of the Danube Floodplain National Park. The list of animal goups comprises, among others, crustaceans (e.g. Amphipoda, Copepoda, Isopoda, Ostracoda), annelids (Oligochaeta, Aphanoneura, Polychaeta), nematods, turbellarians, mites, and gastropods. In particular, the shallow groundwater habitats of the Lower Lobau, an intensively studied wetland area within the national park, hosts 84 % of the stygobionts and 84 % of the stygophile species discovered in the entire national park. Our compilation of historic and recent data underlines the Danube Floodplain National Park to be among the top-ranked subterranean biodiversity hotspots worldwide. The unique data set from groundwater research over a period of more than 50 years will allow us in the coming years to targeted stress effects of river regulation, floodplain water management, and climate change in relation to biodiversity.

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