Limnetica 35

The distribution and richness of aquatic plants in 19 ponds in the hinterland of Long Beach and Ada Bojana Island in the southern part of Montenegro in the period from March 2014 to October 2014 have been studied in relation to some environmental factors. The presence of 74 species was recorded, 10 of which were submerged, 4 floating-leaved and 60 emergent plants. Phragmites australis was the most frequent species that is present in 16 of the analysed ponds. The results of Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) have shown that statistically significant physicochemical parameters (concentration of nitrates, distance from the sea and salinity) accounted for 28.3% of variance in aquatic plant distribution. Species richness was rather high, 20 species per pond, on average, and was moderately related to the physicochemical parameters according to the Generalized Additive Models (GAM).