[Analysis of life forms of rheophilic macrobenthos: a new approach to community classification]

The taxonomical composition and number of life forms of macrobenthos assemblages were described for 82 streams in the Central Part of European Russia. The data (445 qualitative samples) were taken from the bottom and macrophytes. The communities typical for four main types of substratum (stones, macrophytes, sand and mud) differ at the level of species, genera, families and life forms. Communities from other habitats were either similar to the main types or demonstrated intermediate characteristics. The list of life forms or families provides more reliable information than that of species because the latter strongly depends on geographic location of a particular site. The author describes life forms and families that can characterize main types of macrobenthics communities connected with different substrata.