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Families of the order Diptera are frequently found in freshwater wetlands, affecting nearly all trophic levels, serving as detritivores, herbivores and predators. Diptera are characterised by an enormous ecological variability of their larval life strategies, which often differ even within individual families. Their adults form an important connection between the aquatic environment of a wetland with its terrestrial surroundings. As a result, adults of various wetland Diptera may serve as pollinators, predators and a prey of other animals including humans. Until now, research of food webs in wetland ecosystems has been focused mainly on a few economically significant groups of Diptera such as mosquitoes, or has been focused on the role of Diptera in transfer of heavy metal from wetlands to other ecosystems. However, overall wetland dipteran diversity still remains understudied. Examining the roles of insects as well as other organisms in food webs is important for example to simulate possible consequences of introduction or extinction of certain species on ecosystems. Further research is therefore necessary to understand how do various dipteran taxa affect other organisms in wetlands as well as their surroundings. Keywords: Diptera, wetlands, ecological webs, detritivory, herbivory, predation |
