On the usage of ostracods (Crustacea) as bioindicator species in different aquatic habitats in the Bolu region, Turkey

Ostracods may be excellent organisms to use as indicators of water quality, but such an idea requires detailed knowledge about their ecology, distribution, biology, and habitat requirements. To show whether ostracods are useful as indicator species, the patterns of their diversity and their relationship with seven major physicochemical variables in eleven different aquatic ecosystems were examined in the Bolu region. A total of 18 species were found from 11 disturbed and undisturbed habitats of the region. Five species (Ilyocypris inermis, Ilyocypris gibba, Tonnacypris lutaria, Eucypris virens, Cypris pubera) were new records for the region. In disturbed sites numbers of cosmopolitan ostracods were higher than the numbers of non-cosmopolitans, suggesting a close relationship between increasing numbers of cosmopolitan ostracods and low water quality. Results seem to support the idea that factors of disturbance have strong, possibly long-term effects, on both ostracod species diversity and community structure and functioning in freshwater habitats.