Zooplankton Species Associations in Quebec Lakes: Variation with Abiotic Factors, Including Natural and Anthropogenic Acidification

1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette Pinel-Alloul ◽  
Ginette Méthot ◽  
Ghislain Verreault ◽  
Yvan Vigneault

Abundances and biomass of 38 zooplankton species and accompanying abiotic data from 54 Quebec lakes were subjected to cluster and correlation analysis to determine (1) characteristic zooplankton associations of cooccurring species, (2) relative importance of abiotic variables in lake typology, and (3) relationships between the integrated environmental factors derived from lake morphometry, water quality, and acidification level, and the structure of zooplankton communities. The eight groups of species identified in the cluster analysis may be considered separate "species associations" characterized by distinct patterns of distribution in Quebec lakes. Differences in mean pH and sulphate concentrations can be detected between groups of lakes representing the different species associations. Factor analysis produced seven factor scores which explain 82% of the total variance of the morphological, physical, and chemical variables. The distribution pattern of acidity or alkalinity represents the major feature in water chemistry variation, but lake morphology also account for the observed environmental variability. Each factor represents an integrated environmental property correlated with a set of colinear abiotic variables. These factors are correlated with zooplankton species abundances and biomass. The community structure, whether expressed in size classes or in trophic groups, tends to vary among sets of lakes of different pH.

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana E. Bohnenberger ◽  
Lúcia R. Rodrigues ◽  
David da Motta-Marques ◽  
Luciane O. Crossetti

The aim of the present study was to understand how different phytoplankton functional approaches responded to environmental variability in a large shallow lake, namely Lake Mangueira, in southern Brazil. This coastal lake has a maximum depth of 7m and is ~90km long and ~3–10km wide. Physical and chemical variables, maximum linear dimension, life forms, functional and morphofunctional groups of phytoplankton were analysed. The results showed that the phytoplankton were primarily comprised Cyanobacteria (63.9%), followed by middle-sized algae (21–50μm; 46.7%) and colonial non-flagellated taxa (63%). The highest percentage of total biomass was accounted for by the functional group ‘K’ (as classified by Reynolds et al. 2002; 36.3%), large mucilaginous colonies (46.79%) according to morphologically based functional classification and other large colonies (mostly non-vacuolated; 36.7%) according to morphofunctional classification. Dissimilarity analysis indicated a significant correlation between abiotic data and functional approaches (P=0.001). The dissimilarity in the functional compositions of phytoplankton was related to nutrient and light conditions, especially to silicon content and water transparency, in all functional approaches. The highest correlation with abiotic variables was seen for morphologically based functional group community structure, although the functional group composition of phytoplankton sensu Reynolds et al. seemed to be the most effective system in describing environmental variability in Lake Mangueira over the long term.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Guilherme Liberato da Silva ◽  
Maicon H. Metzelthin ◽  
Tairis Da-Costa ◽  
Matheus Rocha ◽  
Darliane E. Silva ◽  
...  

Many studies have revealed that water mite communities can be affected by the physical and chemical parameters of the water. The similarity between the water ‘mite assemblages in local water bodies and in irrigated rice areas can be a way to measure the water conditions, enabling an assessment of the anthropic impact in the environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution of water mites in lakes and irrigated rice fields in south Brazil. To accomplish that we characterized the distinctive environments using physical and chemical variables such as pH, turbidity (NTU), water temperature (°C) and dissolved oxygen (mg/L), in order to verify the influence of these abiotic factors on the species composition of water mite communities; and to compare water mite abundance, richness and composition among different habitats. We assessed three native lakes and four sites with irrigated rice cultivation. Our results showed, for the first time in Brazil, strong correlations between the water mite fauna and turbidity. In addition, native lakes were richer and had greater mite abundance when compared with the irrigated rice areas.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel E. Muñoz-Colmenares ◽  
Juan M. Soria ◽  
Eduardo Vicente

AbstractThe European Water Framework Directive implements the policies to achieve a good ecological status of all European waterbodies. To determine the ecological potential in freshwater environments, abiotic (morphology, physical and chemical variables) and biotics (algae, fishes, etc.) metrics are used. Despite their importance in trophic web, zooplankton was not included as one of the Biological Quality Elements (BQE) to determine the water quality. In the present research, we studied the zooplankton species that can be considered as indicators of trophic status and ecological potential for more than 60 water reservoirs. The data were obtained from more of 300 samples collected during 10 years from reservoirs at Ebro River watershed, which is the largest basin in Spain. According to their physicochemical and biological elements, the trophic status and ecological potential of these reservoirs were established. More than 150 zooplankton species were identified during the study. The results from this research indicate that species that are related with low water quality are: Acanthocyclops americanus, Ceriodaphnia spp., Daphnia cucullata, Daphnia párvula, Diaphanosoma brachyurum, Brachionus angularis, Keratella cochlearis and Phompolyx sulcata. An indicator of moderate quality was Bosmina longirostris, while Daphnia longispina, Ascomorpha ovalis and Ascomorpha saltans were considered as indicators of good water quality. The data obtained suggest that zooplankton species can be used as a valuable tool to determine the water quality status and should be considered, in a near future, as one more of the BQE within the WFD metrics.


2003 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Henrique C. Marques ◽  
Haydée Torres de Oliveira ◽  
Eunice da Costa Machado

The Piraquara river basin (Upper Iguaçu River basin - Brazil) was studied as an ecological system throughout a complete seasonal cycle, comprising the rainy and dry season. Analyzes of 16 physical and chemical water variables (dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, temperature, pH, conductivity, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, ortophosphates, nitrite, nitrate, ammonium, reagent silicate, total suspended solids, chlorophyll - a, flow velocity and depth) showed correlations between water composition and watershed physiographic features, and the Principal Component Analysis allowed to evidence spatial gradients and seasonal differences. The sampling points were clustered in patches with homogeneous behavior, according to ecologycal concepts: patch 1, with strong influence of Serra do Mar mountains; patch 2, medium course, under Piraquara Dam influence and patch 3, under wetlands influence. Two main factors of serial discontinuity were identified: the Piraquara dam effect and the influence of wetlands. The watershed zoning based on limnological characteristics seeks to subsidize research and biomonitoring for this public springs area.


2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 970-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ênio Wocyli Dantas ◽  
Ariadne do Nascimento Moura ◽  
Maria do Carmo Bittencourt-Oliveira ◽  
João Dias de Toledo Arruda Neto ◽  
Airlton de Deus C. Cavalcanti

The aim of this study was to determine how abiotic factors drive the phytoplankton community in a water supply reservoir within short sampling intervals. Samples were collected at the subsurface (0.1 m) and bottom of limnetic (8 m) and littoral (2 m) zones in both the dry and rainy seasons. The following abiotic variables were analyzed: water temperature, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, turbidity, pH, total nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate, total phosphorus, total dissolved phosphorus and orthophosphate. Phytoplankton biomass was determined from biovolume values. The role abiotic variables play in the dynamics of phytoplankton species was determined by means of Canonical Correspondence Analysis. Algae biomass ranged from 1.17×10(4) to 9.21×10(4) µg.L-1; cyanobacteria had biomass values ranging from 1.07×10(4) to 8.21×10(4) µg.L-1. High availability of phosphorous, nitrogen limitation, alkaline pH and thermal stability all favored cyanobacteria blooms, particularly during the dry season. Temperature, pH, total phosphorous and turbidity were key factors in characterizing the phytoplankton community between sampling times and stations. Of the species studied, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii populations were dominant in the phytoplankton in both the dry and rainy seasons. We conclude that the phytoplankton was strongly influenced by abiotic variables, particularly in relation to seasonal distribution patterns.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Mohamed El-Otify ◽  
Isaac Agaiby Iskaros

Aim: The composition, abundance, community structure of potamoplankton and major physical and chemical variables of the Nile water in Upper Egypt were investigated to assess its status in different seasons during 2007.MethodsWater samples were collected seasonally during 2007 from six investigated sites from variable depths at levels of 0, 2.5 and 5 m. The area of this investigation is defined as the southern 120 Km of the main stream of the Nile in Upper Egypt (24° 04’ – 25° 00’ latitudes and 32° 51’ – 32° 54’ longitudes), downstream of Aswan Old Dam.ResultsAltogether, 121 potamoplankton species, of which 85 related to phytoplankton and 36 appertaining to zooplankton were recorded. Most numerous phytoplankton were Chlorophyceae (42 species) followed by Bacillariophyceae (30 species). Cyanobacteria and Dinophyceae were less numerous with only 11 and 2 species, respectively. Zooplankton species were mainly belonging to three systematic groups namely; Rotifera (24 species), Copepoda (3 species) and Cladocera (9 species). Besides, other rare zooplankton including Platyhelminthes, Nemata and Ciliophora were sparsely encountered. The main hydrological conditions characterizing the investigated area include water level fluctuations (˂82 - ˃85 m above sea level), relatively high current velocity (0.8 - 1.3 m sec–1) and disposal of wastewater. Plankton populations were variably but rather weakly dependent on the major nutrients due to their excessive availability in accessible form for uptake by the producers. For phytoplankton, the community structure was categorized in relation to temperature, pH, SO42– and Mg2+. For zooplankton, the community structure was categorized in relation to conductivity as well as Mg2+. Sampling intervals were inadequate to demonstrate the existing successional pattern of the Nile potamoplankton community. Alterations in the phytoplankton community structure accompanied changes in water temperature represented by the alternate dominance between diatoms and cyanobacteria, while zooplankton community was always dominated by rotifers. Phytoplankton populations were numerically more abundant in autumn and zooplankton peaked in spring.ConclusionsWastewater disposal restricted the abundance of the Nile zooplankton assemblages mainly due to the numerical decline of Rotifera and Cladocera. Otherwise, wastewater did not exert major limits for phytoplankton. The data obtained in this investigation will be crucial to understand potamoplankton regulation and contribute to the knowledge regarding the Limnology of the Nile basin.


2011 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 1313-1326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulliari A. S. T. Lira ◽  
Elcida L. Araújo ◽  
Maria Do Carmo Bittencourt-Oliveira ◽  
Ariadne N. Moura

The present study reports the phytoplankton abundance, dominance and co-existence relationships in the eutrophic Carpina reservoir, Pernambuco, Brazil. Sampling was carried out at six different depths bimonthly at a single reservoir spanning two climatic periods: dry season (January, September, and November 2006) and rainy season (March, May, and July 2006). Density, abundance, dominance, specific diversity and equitability of the community were determined, along with chlorophyll a, and physical and chemical variables of the environment. Eight species were considered abundant, and their densities corresponded to more than 90% of the total phytoplankton community quantified. Cyanobacteria represented more than 80% of this density. Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii was the only dominant taxon in the dry season, and was co-dominant in the rainy season. C. raciborskii, Planktothrix agardhii and Geitlerinema amphibium had the greatest densities and lowest vertical variation coefficients. The statistical analysis indicated relationships with vertical and seasonal variations in the phytoplankton community and the following variables: total dissolved solids, water temperature, electrical conductivity and pH. The changes in the environmental variables were discrete and regulated by the establishment of precipitation however, they were able to promote vertical and seasonal instability in the structure of the phytoplankton community.


2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina da Silva Pedrozo ◽  
Odete Rocha

The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the environmental quality of Marcelino, Pinguela, Peixoto, Palmital, Malvas and Do Passo lakes, interconnected by canals and located in the district of Osório, RS. In this context, 29 physical and chemical variables were analyzed with sampling carried out in January, May, July and October 1997 to verify the environmental quality of the system and the existence of a gradient of quality. Canonical Analysis was applied to the data of all environmental variables measured, and showed that the lakes had different characteristics as a consequence of the organic pollution received. Marcelino lake received continuous input of organic matter from the sewage treatment works in the town of Osório, whereas Peixoto, Pinguela, Palmital, Malvas and Do Passo lakes resembled other water bodies described in the region, not showing, so far, signs of degradation caused by the input of effluents. Principal Component Analysis selected environmental element were directly linked to organic pollution, that reflected sequential non-recent effects of contamination.


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