scholarly journals Zooplankton-based assessment of the trophic state of a tropical forest river in Nigeria

2009 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.O.T. Imoobe ◽  
M.L. Adeyinka

In this study, we explore the usefulness of zooplankton as a tool for assessing the trophic status of a Nigerian forest river. The river was sampled monthly and investigated for water physico-chemistry and zooplankton community structure using basic statistical measurement of diversity indices to characterize the zooplankton fauna. The trophic sta?tus of the river evaluated from its physico-chemical parameters indicates that the river is oligotrophic. The zooplankton composition was typical of a tropical freshwater river, with a total of 40 species, made up of 16 rotifers, 12 cladocerans, and 12 copepods and their developing stages in the following order of dominance: Rotifera > Cladocera > Cyclopoida > Calanoida. There were strong correlations between the lake's trophic status and its zooplankton communities. The zoo?plankton community was dominated by numerous species of rotifers and crustaceans, which are typical of oligotrophic to mesotrophic systems, such species including Conochilus dossuarius and Synchaeta longipes. However, the most dominant zooplankton species in West African freshwater ecosystems, viz., Keratella tropica, Keratella quadrata, Brachionus angularis, Trichocerca pusilla, Filinia longiseta, Pompholyx sulcata, and Proales sp., and others that are indicator species of high trophic levels, were not recorded in the river. The river is very clear and can be used for all manner of recreational activities.

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (11) ◽  
pp. 2450-2462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela L Strecker ◽  
Shelley E Arnott

Invasive species introductions into freshwater ecosystems have had a multitude of effects on aquatic communities. Few studies, however, have directly compared the impact of an invader on communities with contrasting structure. Historically high levels and subsequent reductions of acid deposition have produced landscapes of lakes of varying acidity and zooplankton community structure. We conducted a 30-day enclosure experiment in Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, to test the effects of Bythotrephes longimanus, an invasive invertebrate predator, on two contrasting zooplankton communities at different stages of recovery from acidification: recovered and acid damaged. Bythotrephes significantly decreased zooplankton biomass and abundance in both communities but had a greater negative effect on the abundance of zooplankton in the recovered community. Bythotrephes reduced species diversity of the recovered zooplankton community but not of the acid-damaged community. Species richness of both community types was unaffected by Bythotrephes predation. The effect of Bythotrephes on small cladocerans, a preferred prey type, differed between the community types and appeared to be related to density-dependent predation by Bythotrephes. Both community- and species-level results suggest that recovered and acid-damaged zooplankton assemblages may be negatively affected by an invasion of Bythotrephes but that the specific response is dependent on the original community structure.


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.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Niklas Macher ◽  
Berry B. van der Hoorn ◽  
Katja T. C. A. Peijnenburg ◽  
Lodewijk van Walraven ◽  
Willem Renema

AbstractZooplankton are key players in marine ecosystems, linking primary production to higher trophic levels. The high abundance and high taxonomic diversity renders zooplankton ideal for biodiversity monitoring. However, taxonomic identification of the zooplankton assemblage is challenging due to its high diversity, subtle morphological differences and the presence of many meroplanktonic species, especially in coastal seas. Molecular techniques such as metabarcoding can help with rapid processing and identification of taxa in complex samples, and are therefore promising tools for identifying zooplankton communities. In this study, we applied metabarcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene to zooplankton samples collected along a latitudinal transect in the North Sea, a shelf sea of the Atlantic Ocean. Northern regions of the North Sea are influenced by inflow of oceanic Atlantic waters, whereas the southern parts are characterised by more coastal waters. Our metabarcoding results indicated strong differences in zooplankton community composition between northern and southern areas of the North Sea, particularly in the classes Copepoda, Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) and Polychaeta. We compared these results to the known distributions of species reported in previous studies, and by comparing the abundance of copepods to data obtained from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR). We found that our metabarcoding results are mostly congruent with the reported distribution and abundance patterns of zooplankton species in the North Sea. Our results highlight the power of metabarcoding to rapidly assess complex zooplankton samples, and we suggest that the technique could be used in future monitoring campaigns and biodiversity assessments.HighlightsZooplankton communities are different in northern and southern areas of the North SeaMetabarcoding results are consistent with known species distributions and abundanceMetabarcoding allows for fast identification of meroplanktonic species


Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie E. Wilson ◽  
Rasmus Swalethorp ◽  
Sanne Kjellerup ◽  
Megan A. Wolverton ◽  
Hugh W. Ducklow ◽  
...  

Abstract The Amundsen Sea Polynya (ASP) has, on average, the highest productivity per unit area in Antarctic waters. To investigate community structure and the role that zooplankton may play in utilizing this productivity, animals were collected at six stations inside and outside the ASP using paired “day-night” tows with a 1 m2 MOCNESS. Stations were selected according to productivity based on satellite imagery, distance from the ice edge, and depth of the water column. Depths sampled were stratified from the surface to ∼ 50–100 m above the seafloor. Macrozooplankton were also collected at four stations located in different parts of the ASP using a 2 m2 Metro Net for krill surface trawls (0–120 m). The most abundant groups of zooplankton were copepods, ostracods, and euphausiids. Zooplankton biovolume (0.001 to 1.22 ml m-3) and abundance (0.21 to 97.5 individuals m-3) varied throughout all depth levels, with a midsurface maximum trend at ∼ 60–100 m. A segregation of increasing zooplankton trophic position with depth was observed in the MOCNESS tows. In general, zooplankton abundance was low above the mixed layer depth, a result attributed to a thick layer of the unpalatable colonial haptophyte, Phaeocystis antarctica. Abundances of the ice krill, Euphausia crystallarophias, however, were highest near the edge of the ice sheet within the ASP and larvae:adult ratios correlated with temperature above a depth of 60 m. Total zooplankton abundance correlated positively with chlorophyll a above 150 m, but negative correlations observed for biovolume vs. the proportion of P. antarctica in the phytoplankton estimated from pigment ratios (19’hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin:fucoxanthin) again pointed to avoidance of P. antarctica. Quantifying zooplankton community structure, abundance, and biovolume (biomass) in this highly productive polynya helps shed light on how carbon may be transferred to higher trophic levels and to depth in a region undergoing rapid warming.


Water ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Baogui Liu ◽  
Chuanqiao Zhou ◽  
Lilin Zheng ◽  
Haixin Duan ◽  
Ying Chen ◽  
...  

Flood pulse related physical variables (FLOOD) can affect zooplankton community structure through local factors directly and can also influence through regional dispersal factors of metacommunity concepts indirectly. Therefore, we infer that spatial patterns of zooplankton communities could be related to metacommunity concepts and their importance may depend on the size of the aquatic/terrestrial transition zone (ATTZ). Herein, we explored the relative importance of limnological (LIMNO) and FLOOD variables in zooplankton community by analyzing data from 272 sites across three floodplain lakes in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Our results showed that the variation in the zooplankton community can be well explained by the LIMNO and FLOOD variables in all of the lakes under the low water level season. However, during the high water level season, neither LIMNO nor FLOOD can explain the spatial variances of zooplankton. Therefore, our results indicated that testing biogeographical theories and macroecological laws using zooplankton should consider temporal aspects of flood pulse. Furthermore, we noted that the number of explained variance by local variables is negatively correlated with the size of the ATTZ. Metacommunity concepts provide complementary insights in explaining zooplankton spatial patterns within large floodplain systems, which also provide a theoretical basis for ATTZ protection in floodplain management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 4486-4490
Author(s):  
Olga Yurjevna Derevenskaya ◽  
Evgenia Sergeevna Prytkova ◽  
Elena Nikolaevna Unkovskaya

Long-term studies (1998–2018) of shallow lakes Krugloe and Krutoe (Russia) were carried out. The trophic status of the lakes was estimated using physicochemical parameters of water and the indicators of zooplankton. Physicochemical studies of Krugloe and Krutoe lake water make it possible to classify these reservoirs as eutrophic according to their trophic status. The lakes are characterized by low water transparency, a high content of organic substances in water, the “blooming” of water is observed periodically, accompanied by the increase of pH to 8–9 units. The zooplankton communities of Krugloe and Krutoe lakes are characterized by relatively low species richness, the dominance of a small number of species, and the predominance of species that are indicators of eutrophic waters. Quantitative indicators of zooplankton are characterized by significant fluctuations in values over the years, the prevalence of rotifers. They showed that zooplankton community is a good indicator of the trophic state of lakes. Such indicators of zooplankton communities as the composition of dominant species, their number, the presence of indicator species, the quantitative indicators of zooplankton and individual taxonomic groups, and the average individual mass of the zooplankton can be used to characterize the trophic status of lakes. They can be recommended for use during monitoring of the lake condition in the Volga-Kama State Natural Biosphere Reserve.


2015 ◽  
Vol 75 (3 suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Matsumura-Tundisi ◽  
JG. Tundisi ◽  
F. Souza-Soares ◽  
JEM. Tundisi

Abstract The zooplankton community of the lower Xingu River shows strong fluctuations in species richness and number of organisms during periods of water level fluctuation. Pulses of density and species richness are adapted to the pulses in water flows and water level. This is conected with reproductive strategies of some zooplankton groups. The spatial heterogeneity of the lower Xingu River consisting of braided channels, bedrocks, macrophyte stands, is probably a relevant factor for the species richness of the zooplankton communities, and may be a fundamental factor for the overall aquatic biodiversity of the lower Xingu River.


1979 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 1354-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Gary Sprules ◽  
L. Blair Holtby

Three different characterizations of limnetic zooplankton communities from lakes of the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario are compared with respect to their usefulness in limnological studies: a conventional taxonomic one, one based on the body size and feeding ecology of the organisms, and one based on image analysis of the particle size spectrum. In comparison with the taxonomic characterization, the ecological and image analysis characterizations reflect zooplankton community features which are more closely related to the efficiency and nature of energy flow through pelagic ecosystems. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that these features have stronger statistical relations to morphometric and hydrological properties of lakes. The ecological and image analyses are thus not only more useful in studies seeking to make predictions about lake function from lake type but actually require less time, money and expertise in the acquisition of zooplankton data. In comparisons of zooplankton communities from the disparate faunal regions of the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario and southeast Asia, particularly Sri Lanka, more useful functional insights emerge from a body size-feeding ecology characterization than from a taxonomically based one. Key words: community structure, image analysis, Bruce Peninsula, tropical zooplankton, zoogeography, multivariate analysis


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 207-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Kuczyńska-Kippen ◽  
Piotr Klimaszyk ◽  
Ryszard Piotrowicz

Abstract The paper presents the results of an investigation of physical-chemical features of water as well as rotifer and crustacean abundance and diversity measures, relating to the taxonomic richness and species diversity index, in three lobelia lakes differing in trophic status and morphometric features. The main purpose of this study was to establish the diversity of zooplankton communities in the open water area of lobelia lakes, including extracting species common for each lake and also to find environmental predictors which are responsible for the development of zooplankton communities. Despite the fact that the three studied lakes are of the same origin, located in the same vicinity and have generally similar environmental factors, zooplankton community structure revealed a great variation in reference to species diversity (only ca. 20% of the species were common for all lakes) and particularly in inhabiting species. Obrowo Lake had the most diverse assemblages of both rotifers and crustaceans compared to Modre and Pomysko lakes. In the taxonomic structure species that are rare for the Polish fauna, such as e.g. Holopedium gibberum and Heterocope appendiculata, occurred. Even though the examined lobelia lakes are ecosystems that undergo varying human-induced impacts, they still remain taxonomically very variable aquatic ecosystems, containing rare species of very high ecological status. The observed symptoms of deterioration of water quality, reflected in the zooplankton biocoenotic features, showed that the best conditions were attributed to Obrowo Lake in comparison with the two remaining lakes – Modre and Pomysko. Total nitrogen and chlorophyll a concentration were decisive for the distribution of zooplankton species in Pomysko and Obrowo lakes, while in case of Modre lake water reactivity and conductivity were of higher impact.


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