| Summary: | In
order to determine distribution, habitat and ecological preferences of Darwinula
stevensoni, data gathered from 102 samples collected in Turkey between 2000
and 2017 was evaluated. A total of 1786 individuals of D.
stevensoni were reported from eight different aquatic habitats in 14
provinces in six of seven geographical regions of Turkey. Although there are
plenty of samples from Central Anatolia Region, recent form of the species was
not encountered. Unlike recent, fossil forms of species were encountered in all
geographic regions except Southeastern Anatolia. The oldest fossil record in
Turkey was reported from the Miocene period (ca 23 mya). Species occurred in
all climatic seasons in Turkey. D. stevensoni showed high optimum and
tolerance levels to different ecological variables. Results showed a positive
and negative significant correlations of the species with pH (P<0.05) and
elevation (P<0.01), respectively. It seems that the ecological preferences
of the species are much wider than previously known. Our results suggest that
if D. stevensoni is used to estimate past and present environmental
conditions, attention and care should be paid on its ecology and distribution.
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