Igor Kokavec

• PhD
• Researcher at Slovak Academy of Sciences

This study reports the establishment of a population of Quistadrilus multisetosus (Smith, 1900), a new addition to the Slovak fauna, in the Danube floodplain. This finding also identifies the species as a new inhabitant of the Danube river-floodplain system. Its presence in this new area confirms its high potential for dispersal, as previously docu...

1. Floodplains are crucial components of river landscape, essential for the biodiversity and ecological integrity of large rivers. However, they are often overlooked and underestimated when assessing the ecological status of the main river channel. 2. The main objective of this study was to identify the most relevant scheme for assessing the ecolog...

The distribution and diversity of insects are crucial conservation issues. The order Trichoptera is comprised of numerous endangered species, but the rarity of some makes it challenging to determine their conservation priority. In recent decades, data based on caddisfly larvae have become more frequent in limnological research in Slovakia. Our rese...

The distribution and diversity of insects are crucial conservation issues. The order Trichoptera comprises numerous endangered species, but the rarity of some makes it challenging to determine their conservation priority. Research in Slovakia in recent decades has focused mainly on limnological studies, resulting in more frequent data on caddisfly...

During our study of the caddisfly fauna of the Danube, its branches and oxbow lakes, including the urban and suburban areas of Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia), we made an unexpected record of the species Tinodes maculicornis (Pictet, 1834), which is the first documented occurrence of this species in the Pannonian ecoregion (Hungarian lowlands)...

We present the first record of Anatopynia plumipes (Fries, 1823) from Slovakia. Larva of this species was found in a semi-permanent oxbow lake, a remnant of a plesiopotamal-type side arm of the Danube River.

Macroinvertebrates of the Turiec river basin regarding the geological diversity of the area. Abstract: The basin of the Turiec river drains three geomorphological units with different geological bedrocks. The aim of our research was to evaluate the taxocoenosis of selected groups of benthic invertebrates, with regard to the geological bedrock and t...

The plasticity of some biological and ecological characteristics of Gammarus fossarum Koch, 1836, a species widely distributed in the rivers of continental Europe, has been the subject of many scientific studies. The effects of river damming are reflected in the disruption of the natural environmental continuum of rivers, which has been demonstrate...

The main objective of this study is to present a new record of Tasserkidrilus cf. americanus found in a channel near the Tešmak swamp in Slovakia (Central Europe) and to compare its morphological features and habitat requirements with those of populations occurring in North America and Europe. The new specimens are similar to those found in The Net...

This study presents initial results of the research focusing on the assessment of changes in a macroinvertebrate assemblage after 20 years of operation of a small hydropower plant situated in the lower Hron River. Its aim was to provide faunistic data on Trichoptera obtained between the spring of 2019 and the summer of 2020 in the river stretches b...

We present the first record of the caddisfly species Adicella syriaca Ulmer, 1907 from Slovakia, which is also the northernmost record of the species so far. Based on the literature data, we can conclude that the species spread 250 km northwards, compared to the previous records, inhabiting north Pannonian rivers, including the Danube floodplain (t...

Paranais litoralis, a euryhaline aquatic oligochaete, was recently recorded in the middle stretch of the Danube River basin. This study provides more details about population abundance and habitat preferences of the species, inhabiting a lowland stretch of the Váh River in Slovakia. For the first time, few specimens were identified at one sampling...

From the family Athericidae, only three species (Atherix ibis, Ibisia marginata, Atrichops crassipes) are widespread in Central and Western Europe. Although predatory larvae of these species are an important component of many benthic communities, little is known about their distribution and ecological preferences. Aiming to fill these gaps, the dis...

Kega project: "Life and water" was focused on the development of new modern educational materials for Biology teachers. It offers the newest knowledge and materials for teachers teaching the thematic unit of Biology: Life and water. Among the most important outcomes of our project we consider the following: - managing of workshop Running waters fo...

The number of studies assessing the downstream effects of multiple reservoirs on benthic communities over a large spatial scale has been disproportionally less compared with studies of the effects of a single reservoir, while even fewer studies have examined the responses of non-insect macroinvertebrates on the impact of river discontinuity. The ma...

The longitudinal organization of the non-insect community in a sub-mountain river has been examined with regard to contrasting discontinuities, a reservoir and tributary junctions. 34 species were recorded in the studied river stretch, of which 21 belonged to Oligochaeta. According to the non-metric multidimensional scaling result the differences i...

In spite of many investigations about the impact of reservoirs on river continuum, the downstream effects of a pumped-storage hydropower plants (PSHP) still have been less known. The aim of the study was to evaluate the downstream effect of the PSHP Čierny Váh in regard to the Serial Discontinuity Concept assumptions or studies assessing more frequ...

The effect of longitudinal zonation patterns and macroinvertebrate responses to changes in habitat characteristics have been given a lot of attention. But studies of changes in macroinvertebrate assemblages along small upland undisturbed watercourses are still lacking. The aim of the study is to analyse variability in macroinvertebrate communities...