Chemical properties and similarity of habitats of Utricularia species in Lower Silesia, Poland

Abstract

The study object consisted of 28 microhabitats of five Utricularia species localized in the Province of Lower Silesia, Poland. The aim of the study was to analyse the chemical properties of water and to present the differentiation of microhabitats in respect of their chemism, i.e., whether there are differences between the microhabitats, and which of the Utricularia species show the highest tolerance to the chemical properties of water. Analysed were the contents of NO^-₂, NO^-₃, NH⁺₄, PO^-2₄, K⁺, Ca⁺², Mg⁺², Na⁺, Fe⁺³, SO^-2₄, total hardness of water, organic substance, pH and trophicity of water. The differentiation of microhabitats of Utricularia intermedia and U. minor appeared to be small, but much higher in case of U. vulgaris, U. australis and U. ochroleuca. The similarity of microhabitats has been determined by cluster analysis. The tree plot showed the least similarity of U. minor and U. intermedia, which occupy an extreme position in relation to microhabitats of the remaining species. Such a grouping suggests that this species is clearly distinct because of its connection with water properties.