LITTORAL MACROZOOBENTHOS BIOMASS IN A CONTINUOUS HABITAT SERIES

The macrozoobenthos, especially large-sized benthos as notably importa nt fish food, were studied in a limited area of Lake Inari, one of the largest lakes in Finland. Samples were collected along the selected s horeline, where new samples were taken at standard 2 m depth each time the habitat changed. Many morpho-edaphic factors and the covering of vegetation were measured simultaneously with the benthic samples in ea ch habitat. Based on the stepwise regression analysis, an equation log MZB = 358.23 - 0.24Exp + 0.65Sed/100 explained 73% of the macrozoobent hos biomass (MZB) in the habitat series, where the exposure of the hab itat (Exp) and the water content of the sediment (Sed) fitted the mode l best.