Ecological and distribution traits of the large white-faced darter Leucorrhinia pectoralis (Charpentier, 1825) in Slovakia

The dragonfly was recorded in Slovakia at 38 sites in 112 findings and there were 707 imagoes. Reproduction was confirmed in seven sites by finding of 35 larvae and exuviae. The highest number of sites with the occurrence of is located in the Záhorská nížina lowland; most sites in Slovakia are located at an altitude of 213–351 m. was recorded together with 49 species of dragonflies, and the average number of was 9.56 individuals per site. It occurs in the communities as a dominant species (9.5%) together with eudominants , and . By non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), we found a coenotic correlation to peat species , , and . By redundancy linear analysis (RDA), we found a Monte Carlo permutation test to make a non-random contribution to the explained variability of seven factors (p = 0.012–0.034). statistically significantly prefers habitats in the forest landscape (r = 0.62, p = 0.0063), the presence of vegetation (r = 0.94, p = 0.0003) and peatbogs (r = 0.61, p = 0.0058). We did not confirm a significant correlation to altitude. Based on easy determination, territoriality (especially males) and bioindicative sensitivity of larvae, is accepted as an umbrella species. has a high dispersion potential and is suitable for creating the meta-population character of local populations, which is important for the conservation management of the species.