Relating crustacean zooplankton community structure to residential development and land-cover disturbance near Canadian Shield lakes

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 2689-2702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malorie Gélinas ◽  
Bernadette Pinel-Alloul

We applied the land-cover cascade (LCC) concept to evaluate whether human disturbance affects crustacean zooplankton community in 13 nutrient-poor lakes of the Laurentian region along a gradient of residential development and land-cover disturbance. Zooplankton biomass responded indirectly to residential disturbances within the watershed based on path analysis. In most LCC models, total phosphorus enrichment was a strong intermediate element linking residential disturbances to increased biomass of small crustaceans ( Bosmina , Ceriodaphnia , and Diaphanosoma ) and Daphnia species ( D. g. mendotae , D. dubia , and D. ambigua ). Zooplanktivory index was also an intermediate element in LCC models of crustacean functional groups and an independent element in daphnid-based LCC models. Low zooplanktivory was associated with higher biomass of large Daphnia ( D. pulicaria and D. catawba ). However, residential disturbance and select environmental factors (phosphate enrichment, zooplanktivory index, lake depth, littoral macrophytes) explained only 42% and 57%, respectively, of among-lake variation in crustacean community and Daphnia assemblages. Variation partitioning analysis suggested that planktivory had a similar or greater influence than human disturbance and phosphate enrichment. Our study improves the knowledge of crustacean zooplankton responses to increasing residential development and land-use disturbances near Canadian Shield lakes.

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
pp. 2268-2287
Author(s):  
Lauren Emily Barth ◽  
Brian John Shuter ◽  
William Gary Sprules ◽  
Charles Kenneth Minns ◽  
James Anthony Rusak

Developing the crustacean zooplankton community size spectrum into an indicator of change in lakes requires quantification of the natural variability in the size spectrum related to broad-scale seasonal, annual, and spatial factors. Characterizing seasonal patterns of variation in the size spectrum is necessary so that monitoring programs can be designed to minimize the masking effects that seasonal processes can have on detecting longer-term temporal change. We used a random effects model to measure monthly, annual, and interlake variability in the slope (i.e., relative abundance of small and large organisms) and centered height (i.e., total abundance) of the crustacean zooplankton normalized abundance size spectrum from 1981 to 2011 among eight Canadian Shield lakes. Consistent with theoretical predictions, the slope was a relatively stable characteristic of the zooplankton community compared with the height, which varied significantly among lakes. We identified a seasonal signal in height and slope and used a mixed effects model to characterize the linear rate of change from May to October; there was an overall decline in height and an overall increase in slope. Seasonal variance was greater than annual variance for both the height and the slope, suggesting that long-term monitoring of lakes and interlake comparisons using zooplankton size spectra should be based on temporally standardized sampling protocols that minimize the effects of seasonal processes. We recommend sampling the zooplankton community in midsummer because this results in size spectrum estimates close to seasonal mean values.


2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (11) ◽  
pp. 2111-2125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P Barbiero ◽  
Marc L Tuchman

The crustacean zooplankton communities in Lakes Michigan and Huron and the central and eastern basins of Lake Erie have shown substantial, persistent changes since the invasion of the predatory cladoceran Bythotrephes in the mid-1980s. A number of cladoceran species have declined dramatically since the invasion, including Eubosmina coregoni, Holopedium gibberum, Daphnia retrocurva, Daphnia pulicaria, and Leptodora kindti, and overall species richness has decreased as a result. Copepods have been relatively unaffected, with the notable exception of Meso cyclops edax, which has virtually disappeared from the lakes. These species shifts have for the most part been consistent and equally pronounced across all three lakes. Responses of crustacean species to the Bythotrephes invasion do not appear to be solely a consequence of size, and it is likely that other factors, e.g., morphology, vertical distribution, or escape responses, are important determinants of vulnerability to predation. Our results indicate that invertebrate predators in general, and invasive ones in particular, can have pronounced, lasting effects on zooplankton community structure.


1990 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 1367-1372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman D. Yan ◽  
Gerald L. Mackie ◽  
Peter J. Dillon

Hydrobiologia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 632 (1) ◽  
pp. 225-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Matthew Drenner ◽  
Stanley I. Dodson ◽  
Ray W. Drenner ◽  
John E. Pinder III

Author(s):  
Lauren Emily Barth ◽  
Brian J. Shuter ◽  
W. Gary Sprules ◽  
Charles K. Minns ◽  
James A Rusak

We evaluated the crustacean zooplankton size spectrum as an indicator of lake characteristics and ecosystem change. First, we used time-series from seven Canadian Shield lakes to identify the factors associated with among-lake and among-year variability in the spectrum slope (relative abundance of small and large zooplankton) and centered height (total abundance). Second, we used time-series from an invaded and three control lakes to assess change in mean and variability in slope and height due to a Bythotrephes invasion. We found that the slope and the height reflected among-lake predictors related to morphometry. The slope was responsive to long-term declining lake phosphorus levels, whereas the height reflected both increases in dissolved organic carbon and decreases in ice duration. We detected a significant increase (i.e. flattening) in mean slope and substantial (up to 120%) increases in the CV of height after Bythotrephes invaded Harp Lake. Thus, the zooplankton size spectrum was responsive to long-term environmental change and a strong top-down perturbation can be detected through regular and frequent monitoring programs.


1981 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 1428-1437 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Roff ◽  
W. G. Sprules ◽  
J. C. H. Carter ◽  
M. J. Dadswell

The zooplankton community structure of 696 lakes in Pleistocene glaciated eastern North America indicated to us that glacial influence was the primary determinant of community structure. Using this criterion we successfully discriminated 82% of the lakes between glacial lakes, to which Diaptomus sicilis, Limnocalanus macrurus, Mysis relicta, and Senecella calanoides were restricted, and nonglacial lakes, to which Cyclops scutifer, Eubosmina longispina, Daphnia pulex, D. catawba, and other species were characteristic. A third large group of common species was distributed throughout the study area with no particular relation to glacial lake influence. No clear patterns in community structure with respect to size of zooplankters were discerned. Although some species distributions or abundances were consistent with the well-known predatory and competitive interactions among zooplankters typical of small lakes and ponds, for example, the negative correlation between the predatory Mysis relicta and Eubosmina longispina, most were not. We suggest that this arose partly because the study area is large and heterogeneous and partly because the biological interactions observed in small lakes and ponds may be less intense in the more physically complex environment of large lakes.Key words: zooplankton, community structure, glacial opportunists, multivariate analysis, zoogeography, size-efficiency hypothesis


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