Rotifera: Bdelloidea from Xanthoria lichens of the SPEEDY project in Flanders, Belgium

Study Extent

The selection of plots was designed to be homogeneous across Flanders. The selection of subplots within a plot was random within the constraints imposed by the availability of targeted habitats (e.g. lichen patches), accessibility, and the permission to sample. This sampling design resulted in a total of up to 81 sampling sites (i.e. nine plots × three landscape-scale urbanization levels × three local-scale urbanization levels).

Sampling

Dry lichen thalli between 5 and 10 cm² were cut from the substrate with a knife and kept in paper bags.

Quality Control

Taxonomic identification was performed by the same person, Diego Fontaneto, in a short period of one month. Taxonomic identification was always performed comparing original descriptions and more recent reviews on the taxonomic group. Georeferenced data were checked by plotting coordinates on a map.

Method steps

1. Each sample was kept dry after collection and stored for two months before being examined. For each lichen sample, an area of 2.5 cm2 was then hydrated with distilled water in a plastic petri dish. The bdelloid rotifers that were active within four hours after rehydration were picked from the dishes using micropipettes, whole mounted alive and identified to species level using a compound microscope. Animals belonging to undescribed species were assigned to genera.

Rotifera: Bdelloidea of the genera Adineta, Habrotrocha, Macrotrachela, Mniobia, Philodina, Pleuretra

1. Rotifera
   common name: rotifers rank: phylum
2. Bdelloidea
   rank: class
3. Adineta
   rank: genus
4. Habrotrocha
   rank: genus
5. Macrotrachela
   rank: genus
6. Mniobia
   rank: genus
7. Philodina
   rank: genus
8. Pleuretra
   rank: genus

Flanders, Belgium