Records of macrozoobenthos organisms in several water bodies of Ukraine during 2007-2021

Study Extent

All samples of macrozoobenthos were collected in summer (July or August) from coastal and central areas of riverbeds. Samples were collected from sandy, silty and silty-sand bottom substrates and representatives of aquatic vegetation. The information for the dataset (initial field work) was collected in cooperation with Artem Lyashenko, Kateryna Zorina-Sakharova, Dmitry Lukashov and other colleagues who participated in separate expeditions for sample collecting. This dataset was prepared (correctly organized according to Darwin Core standards) and published with the help of the project "Preservation of data on biodiversity of Ukraine during the Russian occupation" funded by "Documenting Ukraine" initiative. The initiative is financed by the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna (https://www.iwm.at/).

Sampling

Samples were collected by dredgers with working area of 100 cm2. The upper layer of the bottom sediments (up to 5 cm) was selected for the study. The samples were washed through a sieve with a mesh size of 1 mm2, fixed with a 4% formaldehyde solution and transported to the laboratory to determine the species composition. The database contains finds identified to species or genus. Geographical locations were indicated by GPS-navigator in decimal degrees according to the WGS84 system. The nomenclature follows the GBIF database.

Quality Control

The author is fully responsible for the quality of information provided within the dataset.

Method steps

1. Conducting of field trips.
2. Collecting of samples.
3. Species fixation and identification.
4. Georeferencing.
5. Organizing of the dataset according to Darwin Core standards.

The dataset consists of aquatic fauna records only, namely Annelida, Arthropoda and Mollusca phylums.

1. Animalia
   rank: kingdom
2. Arthropoda
   rank: phylum
3. Mollusca
   rank: phylum
4. Annelida
   rank: phylum
5. Insecta
   rank: class
6. Clitellata
   rank: class
7. Bivalvia
   rank: class
8. Malacostraca
   rank: class
9. Polychaeta
   rank: class
10. Gastropoda
    rank: class

The dataset consists of records made on the territory of Danube Biosphere Reserve (Odesa region), Pyriatyn National Nature Park (Poltava region), Hetmanskyi National Nature Park (Sumy region) as well as Ros River valley (Vinnytsia region) and Rzhyshchiv city amalgamated territorial community (Kyiv region) in Ukraine.