Midsummer Crustacean Zooplankton Communities in Acid-Stressed Lakes

1975 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Gary Sprules

The distribution of limnetic crustacean zooplankton species and species associations in 47 industrially acidified lakes of the La Cloche Mountains, Ontario, are examined. pH, which ranged from 3.8 to 7.0, and to a lesser extent lake area and depth are the major determinants of the structure of these communities. Mesocyclops edax, Cyclops bicuspidatus thomasi, Diaptomus minutus, Holopedium gibberum, Diaphanosoma leuchtenbergianum, and Bosmina sp. were common species which occurred over the entire pH range. Tropocyclops prasinus mexicanus, Epischura lacustris, Diaptomus oregonensis, Leptodora kindtii, Daphnia galeata mendotae, D. retrocurva, D. ambigua, and D. longiremis plus some other rare species making a total of 64% of all species found never or rarely occurred below pH 5.0. Polyphemus pediculus, Daphnia catawba, and D. pulicaria were found primarily in lakes with low pH. An increase in the complexity of the zooplankton communities with increasing pH was evident. Above pH 5.0 the communities contained 9–16 species with three or four dominant species; in lakes with pH 5.0 or less the communities comprised one to seven species with only one or two dominants. Compared with relatively unspoiled lakes of similar morphometry in northwestern Ontario (ELA lakes) the La Cloche lakes have unusually simple zooplankton associations, particularly the very acidic lakes. Recurrent group analysis of the La Cloche and ELA lakes indicated that they were both characterized by a single major recurrent group of six species, five of which were common to the two areas. In the La Cloche lakes the group of six species occurred most frequently in lakes with pH above 5.0 although it maintained its integrity even down to pH 5.0. It is concluded that pH has a great effect on these zooplankton communities, primarily in lakes with pH below 5.0 where many species are completely eliminated and even tolerant species become progressively rarer until in some lakes a single species (D. minutus) remains.


1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazimierz Patalas

Zooplankton communities were characterized on the basis of samples taken in summer as vertical net hauls in the central part of lakes. Twenty-eight species of crustaceans were found in the 45 lakes studied. The highest number of species as well as the highest numbers of individuals (per unit of area) usually occurred in the largest deepest lakes with most transparent water.The most common species were: Bosmina longirostris, Tropocyclops prasinus mexicanus, Mesocyclops edax, Diaptomus minutus, Holopedium gibberum, and Cyclops bicuspidatus thomasi. Daphnids were rather scarcely represented.Senecella calanoides, Limnocalanus macrurus, and Diaptomus sicilis were confined to rather deeper lakes, whereas Diaptomus oregonensis was found mostly in smaller shallower lakes and Diaptomus leptopus in very small, but relatively deep lakes. Diaptomus minutus and C. b. thomasi, though widely distributed, showed a preference for deeper lakes, whereas T. p. mexicanus tended towards smaller shallower lakes.In particular lakes, the number of dominants ranged between 1 and 5, but three dominants per lake was the most commonly encountered case. The simplest community was composed of one cyclopoid, though the most common consisted of one cyclopoid, one diaptomid, and one cladoceran.Four types of communities were distinguished, each of them characteristic for a group of lakes of specific size and depth: (I) in the largest and deepest lakes (389–1007 ha of area, 30–117 m maximum depth); (II) in lakes of medium size and depth (6.5–200 ha, 4.8–33 m); (III) in small and very shallow lakes (3.1–28 ha, 2.7–7.3 m); (IV) in very small lakes with medium depth (1.3–3.7 ha, 6.1–12.8 m).The high degree of similarity between the plankton communities of the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) and southern Ontario, as well as of some Great Lakes, suggest that they all basically belong to the same zoogeographical area.The fact that most species were distributed evenly throughout ELA may indicate the relative uniformity of the area. In ELA, lake morphology is mainly responsible for defining the type of community.



2003 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
C A Holt ◽  
N D Yan ◽  
K M Somers

Identifying thresholds of biotic community change along stressor gradients may be useful to both ecologists and lake managers; however, there are several weaknesses in the thresholds that have been identified for zooplankton communities along acidity gradients. The thresholds are often based on a single species even though pH sensitivities vary among species. They often measure changes in species occurrences, though abundances may be a more responsive indicator of damage. Their identification may be confounded by spatial and morphometric factors if they are derived from lake surveys. Finally, the thresholds have usually been subjectively identified. Our goal was to establish a threshold in zooplankton community change along an acidity gradient that did not have these four common weaknesses. We used two crustacean zooplankton community metrics: species richness and scores of a correspondence analysis based on species abundances. Spatial and morphometric patterns were detected in the zooplankton community data and then extracted. The relationship between zooplankton and acidity was then modeled using a step function that objectively identified a threshold of community change at pH 6 for lakes in south-central Ontario.



1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 2424-2434 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Keller ◽  
M. Conlon

To investigate relationships between crustacean zooplankton communities and lake morphometry we sampled 60 near-neutral Precambrian Shield lakes, including many small, shallow lakes. Morphometry-related patterns in the distributions of many zooplankton species were evident. Lake depth determined the occurrence of hypolimnetic species, and lake depth, lake area, and watershed area were positively related to the species richness of zooplankton communities. Among lakes with fish, deeper (maximum depth >8 m) lakes were characterized by greater species richness, higher abundances of a number of species including Daphnia pulex, Daphnia galeata mendotae, Daphnia dubia, and Diacyclops bicuspidatus thomasi, and lower abundances of Leptodiaptomus minutus, than shallower (maximum depth <8 m) lakes. Increased predation pressure by small fish species in smaller, shallower lakes probably influenced the observed species distributions. Lakes inferred to be fishless based on the presence of Chaoborus americanus typically had relatively high abundances of D. pulex, Diaphanosoma brachyurum, and Aglaodiaptomus leptopus, and absences of D. g. mendotae and D. birgei, patterns attributable to intense invertebrate predation on zooplankton.



1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (10) ◽  
pp. 2400-2405 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Corey ◽  
W. R. Milne

Recurrent group analysis of the Bay of Fundy and southwest Nova Scotia regions on 40 species of zooplankton were compared on a seasonal and annual basis. One major recurrent group occurred per region. Six and five core species occurred in the Bay of Fundy and southwest Nova Scotian waters, respectively. Of these core species, Sagitta elegans, Calanus finmarchicus, and Metridia lucens were common to both areas. The interconnection of the Bay of Fundy and southwest Nova Scotia zooplankton communities is relatively strong (75% of core species for either area occurred in the other area in three of the four surveys). All core species were endemic and boreal.



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.



2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 796-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALLAIN J. BARNETT ◽  
KERRI FINLAY ◽  
BEATRIX E. BEISNER


Crustaceana ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 84 (12-13) ◽  
pp. 1661-1662
Author(s):  
Luis A. Soto


Crustaceana ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricio De los Ríos-Escalante ◽  
Esteban Quinán ◽  
Patricio Acevedo


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