The limnological knowledge of waters in arid regions, especially Mongolia, is still insufficient. It was the goal of the Mongolian-German research project “Limnological Particularities of Characteristic Waterbodies in the Uvs Nuur Basin” to develop a systematic inventory of waters, describe their morphological, hydrophysical, chemical and biological characteristics and to generalize the framework of abiotic and biotic factors that determine their character.
During the field work, carried out from 1996 to 1999, samples of water, sediments, benthic and planktonic biota were taken from 76 places at 15 stagnant water bodies, 21 streams and several groundwater bodies; morphological, hydrological, physical and hydrochemical measurements were made. Chemical and biological analyses were carried out in Germany. The most important taxonomical groups were determined by German and international specialists.
The results of the work are presented and discussed separately for running waters, lakes and groundwater. Based on these findings, several general topics are dealt with: factors shaping the character of water bodies, food webs, biogeography, spatial sequence of water bodies, typology and protection issues. A checklist of 596 taxa was compiled; 109 additional taxa from the Russian and Mongolian literature were included. Two species (Cyclops glacialis Flößner 2001 and Acanthocorbis mongolica Paul 2011) were new for the science and 103 species were new reports for Mongolia. A regional stream typology with 11 different types was developed using the criteria ecoregion, altitude and catchment area. The typology developed for stagnant waters comprises 9 types based on altitude, lake area, existence of an outflow and relative depth. This dissertation comprises 139 pages and an appendix of 59 pages, 50 tables, 94 figures and a map.:Acknowledgments ii
Abstract iii
List of Tables iii
List of Figures vi
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Significance of the investigations 1
1.2 Aims of the investigations 2
1.3 Sequence of field research activities 3
1.4 Area of investigation 4
1.4.1 Topographic situation and morphology .4
1.4.2 Climate 5
1.4.3 Geology and soils 9
1.4.4 Vegetation 10
1.4.5 Population and economy 10
1.4.6 Former limnological investigations in the Uvs Nuur Basin 11
1.4.7 Short description of the investigated waters 12
2 Methods 15
2.1 Sampling 15
2.2 Field measurements 16
2.3 Laboratory analyses and data evaluation 19
3 Results and discussion 26
3.1 Rivers 26
3.1.1 Morphology and hydrology 26
3.1.2 Runoff dynamics 34
3.1.3 Water temperature and freezing 38
3.1.4 Chemical properties 39
3.1.5 Aquatic biota 43
3.2 Lakes 53
3.2.1 Formation and morphometry 53
3.2.2 Water level changes and water balance 58
3.2.3 Temperature and overturn dynamics of the water body 63
3.2.4 Vertical gradients of physico-chemical parameters and chlorophyll 65
3.2.5 Horizontal gradients in Uvs Nuur: surface temperature and suspended matter 69
3.2.6 Salinity and ionic composition 71
3.2.7 Nutrients and trophic state 74
3.2.8 Sediments 79
3.2.9 Aquatic biota 83
3.3 Groundwater 95
3.3.1 Hydrology 95
3.3.2 Chemical composition 96
3.3.3 Biota 98
4 Conclusions and synthesis 99
4.1 Exogenous factors influencing the character of water bodies 99
4.1.1 Biological structure of running waters 100
4.1.2 Biological structure of lakes 104
4.2 Food webs 105
4.3 Biogeographical classification 110
4.4 Spatial sequence of water bodies and material flows 113
4.5 Transformation of the water bodies 116
4.6 Typology of water bodies 117
4.7 Protection of landscape and waters 121
5 Literature 124
6 Appendices 140
6.1 Tables 140
6.2 Cross sections and longitudinal profiles of rivers 169
6.3 Microscopical images of algal species 175
6.4 Satellite images 179
6.5 Photographs of sampled waters 182
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:26259 |
| Date | 12 November 2012 |
| Creators | Paul, Markus |
| Contributors | Benndorf, Jürgen, Borchardt, Dietrich, Nixdorf, Brigitte, Technische Universität Dresden |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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