Karst springs represent valuable and often the most threatened habitats in the riverine landscape. Unlike other stream habitats, they have several specifics that determine their insularity in the river continuum, e.g., high seasonal thermal and chemical stability. The presented study aimed to find out the taxonomical and functional richness of three groups of aquatic insects (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) in the Western Carpathians karst springs, as well as uncover the mechanism of the EPT community assembly. Low within-site species richness was generally found, however, there was high between-site diversity and thus high total diversity of the studied groups of benthic invertebrates as well. Species richness of the EPT community was higher in larger and colder springs: those with lower concentrations of CO₂ and Fe, as well as higher concentrations of SO₄²⁻. Analysis of functional richness, as well as functional dispersion, did not reveal any clear assembly mechanism in the spring EPT community; however, both analyses indicated a higher proportion of environmental filtering there. Unlike the taxonomic richness, the functional richness of the EPT community was significantly higher in small and medium springs with higher water temperatures, as well as in springs with the presence of deadwood. Between-site dissimilarities in the functional composition of EPT were significantly correlated with environmental differences of springs, which determined variables such as spring size and temperature, as well as the concentration of CO₂ and SiO₂.

喀斯特泉水代表了河流景观中宝贵的、通常是最受威胁的栖息地。与其他溪流栖息地不同，它们有几个细节决定了它们在河流连续体中的孤立性，例如, 季节性热稳定性和化学稳定性高。本研究旨在找出西喀尔巴阡岩溶泉中三类水生昆虫（蜉蝣目、全翅目和毛翅目）的分类和功能丰富度，并揭示 EPT 群落组装的机制。通常发现站点内物种丰富度较低，但是站点间多样性较高，因此所研究的底栖无脊椎动物群体的总多样性也较高。EPT 群落的物种丰富度在较大和较冷的泉水中较高：CO ₂和 Fe浓度较低以及 SO ₄ ²⁻浓度较高的泉水. 对功能丰富性和功能分散性的分析，在 spring EPT 社区中没有揭示任何明确的组装机制；然而，这两项分析都表明那里的环境过滤比例更高。与分类丰富度不同，EPT 群落的功能丰富度在水温较高的中小型泉水以及存在枯木的泉水中显着更高。EPT 功能成分的站点间差异与泉水的环境差异显着相关，这决定了泉水大小和温度以及 CO ₂和 SiO ₂浓度等变量。