Odonates are a Bridge between Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems On the 70th Anniversary of А.Yu.Haritonov
Amphibiotic insects, whose eggs and larvae develop in water and adults are terrestrial, are one of the main biogenic factors in the returning a lot of chemical elements from water bodies to the land. The article is based on 30-year (1980-2010) studies conducted in the Barabinsk forest-steppe (Western Siberia, Russia) under the leadership of A.Yu. Haritonov (1949-2013). We measured the quantitative and qualitative contribution of odonates (Odonata) to the export of aquatic production, including highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) and organic carbon, to terrestrial ecosystems. It turned out that the annual emergence of odonates for the whole land area (190 km2) in the basin the Chany Lake is an average of 408 tons of wet weight (124 tons of dry weight), and this is 68% of the annual emergence of all amphibiotic insects. Export of organic carbon via studied odonates is comparable to herbivorous terrestrial insects, and of HUFA, to all other amphibiotic insects. Thus, odonates appeared to be a vital conduit of aquatic productivity to forest-steppe ecosystem.