Body Size and Feeding Ecology as Alternatives to Taxonomy for the Study of Limnetic Zooplankton Community Structure

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

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Głuchowska ◽  
Emilia Trudnowska ◽  
Slawomir Kwasniewski

The advection of warm Atlantic water into the Arctic influences not only the thermal and sea ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean and the adjacent seas but also the Arctic marine biota. Earlier efforts to characterize the response of zooplankton communities to the increasing influence of warm AW were focused mostly on changes in taxonomic diversity and community structure, but how the zooplankton functional role will evolve under future global warming scenarios remains largely unknown. Based on the zooplankton collection gathered along a thermal gradient from temperate to Arctic marine domains (76-79°N) and an extensive functional trait matrix, we assessed the zooplankton taxonomical and functional structure and diversity under different temperature regimes. The results suggest that the temperature effects zooplankton community structure, taking into account not only the taxonomic, but also functional features. The findings can be used in predicting changes in the pelagic realm in the warming Arctic Ocean, and in constructing and tuning plankton components of ecosystem models.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beijuan Hu ◽  
Xuren Hu ◽  
Xue Nie ◽  
Xiaoke Zhang ◽  
Naicheng Wu ◽  
...  

Shallow lakes are important for the maintenance of Lake Poyang ecosystem integrity, and zooplankton play an important role in its substance and energy flow. We investigated zooplankton in spring (April), summer (July), autumn (October) and winter (January of the following year) from 2012 to 2016 in a sub-lake of Lake Poyang with seasonal water level fluctuations. The study aims to understand their seasonal dynamics and interannual variation of zooplankton community in relation to environmental variables. A total of 115 species were identified in all samples of the 4 years, comprising 87 Rotifera, 13 Cladocera and 15 Copepoda. Rotifera was the dominant group in quantity and its species richness and abundance were significantly higher than Cladocera and Copepoda (P<0.05, by ANOVA), while Cladocera dominated in biomass. Species richness of Rotifera showed a significant seasonal difference (P<0.05 by ANOVA). The clear decline of zooplankton species richness in spring was mainly due to the dramatic decrease of Rotifera species. Furthermore, both density and biomass of zooplankton showed significant seasonal differences (P<0.05). Generally, the density and biomass of zooplankton were higher in summer and autumn than in winter and spring. Biodiversity indices e.g., Shannon-Wiener index and evenness were dramatically lower in spring than in other seasons. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis suggested that the zooplankton communities can be divided into three groups: spring community, summer–autumn community and winter community associated with distinct indicator species. The results of species richness and community analysis showed that the seasonal succession of zooplankton communities did not have interannual reproducibility. Redundancy analysis revealed that water temperature (WT), conductivity, pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) had significant effects on the zooplankton community. In addition, water level fluctuations, disturbance by wintering waterbirds and artificial water level control during dry season have potential effects on zooplankton community structure too. This study is helpful to further understand the ecosystem stability of lake connected with rivers and provide scientific guidance for protection of lake wetlands.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Głuchowska ◽  
Emilia Trudnowska ◽  
Slawomir Kwasniewski

The advection of warm Atlantic water into the Arctic influences not only the thermal and sea ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean and the adjacent seas but also the Arctic marine biota. Earlier efforts to characterize the response of zooplankton communities to the increasing influence of warm AW were focused mostly on changes in taxonomic diversity and community structure, but how the zooplankton functional role will evolve under future global warming scenarios remains largely unknown. Based on the zooplankton collection gathered along a thermal gradient from temperate to Arctic marine domains (76-79°N) and an extensive functional trait matrix, we assessed the zooplankton taxonomical and functional structure and diversity under different temperature regimes. The results suggest that the temperature effects zooplankton community structure, taking into account not only the taxonomic, but also functional features. The findings can be used in predicting changes in the pelagic realm in the warming Arctic Ocean, and in constructing and tuning plankton components of ecosystem models.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beijuan Hu ◽  
Xuren Hu ◽  
Xue Nie ◽  
Xiaoke Zhang ◽  
Naicheng Wu ◽  
...  

Shallow lakes are important for the maintenance of Lake Poyang ecosystem integrity, and zooplankton play an important role in its substance and energy flow. We investigated zooplankton in spring (April), summer (July), autumn (October) and winter (January of the following year) from 2012 to 2016 in a sub-lake of Lake Poyang with seasonal water level fluctuations. The study aims to understand their seasonal dynamics and interannual variation of zooplankton community in relation to environmental variables. A total of 115 species were identified in all samples of the 4 years, comprising 87 Rotifera, 13 Cladocera and 15 Copepoda. Rotifera was the dominant group in quantity and its species richness and abundance were significantly higher than Cladocera and Copepoda (P<0.05, by ANOVA), while Cladocera dominated in biomass. Species richness of Rotifera showed a significant seasonal difference (P<0.05 by ANOVA). The clear decline of zooplankton species richness in spring was mainly due to the dramatic decrease of Rotifera species. Furthermore, both density and biomass of zooplankton showed significant seasonal differences (P<0.05). Generally, the density and biomass of zooplankton were higher in summer and autumn than in winter and spring. Biodiversity indices e.g., Shannon-Wiener index and evenness were dramatically lower in spring than in other seasons. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis suggested that the zooplankton communities can be divided into three groups: spring community, summer–autumn community and winter community associated with distinct indicator species. The results of species richness and community analysis showed that the seasonal succession of zooplankton communities did not have interannual reproducibility. Redundancy analysis revealed that water temperature (WT), conductivity, pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) had significant effects on the zooplankton community. In addition, water level fluctuations, disturbance by wintering waterbirds and artificial water level control during dry season have potential effects on zooplankton community structure too. This study is helpful to further understand the ecosystem stability of lake connected with rivers and provide scientific guidance for protection of lake wetlands.


Author(s):  
Dorothée Vincent ◽  
Christophe Luczak ◽  
Benoît Sautour

Short-term changes in zooplankton community structure and distribution in relation to changes in hydrological features were studied during summer in two distinct areas of Arcachon Bay (France) from July to September 1986. One sampling site was chosen in the northern part of the bay, influenced by oceanic inputs, and the other one in the south-eastern part of the bay, close to an estuarine zone, influenced by the River Leyre's inputs. Three different zooplankton assemblages were identified according to a temperature–salinity gradient: (i) an estuarine assemblage dominated by Acartia bifilosa and Acartia tonsa; (ii) an autochthonous assemblage composed of Acartia discaudata; and (iii) a coastal neritic one composed of Paracalanus parvus, Oncaea venusta and Penilia avirostris. All these latter assemblages remained stable during most part of the study period. However, a brief climatic event (storm event) occurred in mid-August and gave rise to a sharp decrease in temperatures along with significant changes in zooplankton structure and distributions in the bay. The estuarine community vanished and was replaced by the autochthonous community. In the northern part of the bay, the coastal neritic community succeeded the previously observed autochthonous community.  The effect of this brief climatic event was durable since recovery time lasted two weeks with regard to hydrological features and zooplankton communities. In addition, the climatic event also had ecological consequences since it permitted spreading of planktonic organisms from small-localized areas throughout the bay.


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.


1984 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1089-1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Pace

Simultaneous observations were made of total phosphorus (TP), chlorophyll a (Chl a), and zooplankton biomass and community structure at 12 sites in the Eastern Townships (ET) region of Quebec to determine if zooplankton parameters reduced residual variation in the TP–Chl a relationship. Similar data from three stations in Lake Memphremagog and the literature were also analyzed. Zooplankton biomass was not significant in explaining residual variation in the TP–Chl a relationship of any data set studied. The mean body size of cladocerans was also not a significant additional variable in a TP–Chl a model based on the seasonal mean values in the ET lakes, but cladoceran body size was a significant factor in 13 lakes of the Indian River district of New York. The difference between these results is attributed to the rarity of large daphnids in the ET lakes. An index of zooplankton community structure derived from the slope of log abundance–log weight regressions was significant in explaining residual variation in TP–Chl a relationships for the among- and within-lake data and improved the predictive capability of TP–Chl a models. Lakes with higher concentrations of macrozooplankton relative to microzooplankton have less Chl a per unit TP. These results extend the generality of the hypothesis that large zooplankton differentially reduce Chl a relative to TP. In the ET lakes the effect of zooplankton size structure, however, was weak and this suggests that manipulation of zooplankton community structure to manage algal biomass may be of limited value in many lakes.


Bionatura ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1763-1769
Author(s):  
Yury Catalina López-Cardona ◽  
Edison Parra-García ◽  
Jaime Palacio-Baena ◽  
Silvia Lucía Villabona-González

We assessed the size variation of morphological traits in Bosmina freyi regarding changes in environmental variables, the biomass of invertebrate predators, and algal food availability in two depths of the photic zone, the riverine zone, and near the dam zone (lacustrine zone) in The Riogrande II reservoir. In 200 individuals of B. freyi, using the software TpsDig2 we measured the body size, mucron and antennule lengths, and the antennule aperture percentage. Using the Mann-Whitney U test, we assessed the differences between these traits considering the zones and the photic depths; however, we used a canonical discriminant analysis with morphologic traits and environmental variables. Measured morphological traits showed a heterogeneous distribution between sampled zones and depths (p < 0.05). The highest values mucron and antennule lengths and the smallest antennule aperture angle were observed on small body size individuals, associated with physical, chemical, and biological characteristics in the riverine zone and the subsurface. Size structure distribution in B. freyi was related to changes in water temperature, trophic state, depredation, availability, and quality of food, of which implications related to the zooplankton community structure, predator-prey relations, and energy flow in the reservoir.


2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 556-561
Author(s):  
Gui-Jun YANG ◽  
Bo-Qiang QIN ◽  
Guang GAO ◽  
Xiao-Dong WANG ◽  
Hong-Yan WANG

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