The ecology of temporary streams II. General remarks on temporary streams

This, the second of two papers on the ecology of temporary streams, attempts a generalization of the unique features of these habitats. The fauna is shown to consist of three main groups: permanent stream species, facultative species and specialized species. The members of certain major taxonomic groups tend to oversummer as similar stages in their life cycles and the oversummering method used reflects the type of life cycle exhibited by a particular species. These variations in life cycle lead to faunal succession. The coexistence of closely related species is shown to be common in temporary aquatic habitats and, as far as the most abundant taxa are concerned, the species composition is very stable from year to year