Using zoobenthos biological property databases to analyze ecological structure of benthic communities in Middle and Lower Volga rivers

The prospects of using a database of biological properties of macrozoobenthos species, developed by Western European ecologists, for modeling the distribution of benthic communities in the Middle and Lower Volga basins are considered. Using multivariate methods, ordination diagrams for 135 taxa of zoobenthos in the space of 72 biological and ecological characteristics were constructed and analyzed. A statistically significant correlation between species properties and the frequency distribution of taxa across 5 reservoirs and natural climatic zones has been demonstrated. Methods to transform the initial set of characteristics into a more compact and informative form have been analyzed, primarily by identifying the optimal set of qualitative feature gradations. After such optimization and considering a number of important regional factors, it is planned to use the database for interpreting the relationships between abiotic variables and the collective properties of individual taxonomic groups, forming ecological scales, and creating comprehensive models of the joint distribution of species.