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Zooplankton was collected on two cruises to the southern Kara Sea to study the effect of the freshwater outflow of the rivers Ob and Yenisej on plankton distribution. Calanoid copepods dominated the composition with more than 75% of all specimens collected in both years; Drepanopus bungei was the most abundant species. Species composition showed a wide spectrum from freshwater to marine species. The abundance and community composition of the zooplankton communities followed closely the hydrographic pattern along a gradient from the inner to the outer estuaries, as revealed by cluster analysis and Multi-Dimensional Scaling. There were also differences in species composition and abundance between the two rivers. The stable brackish surface layer created a large distribution area for riverine species, while in the underlying marine water masses, oceanic species penetrated far into the estuaries. In 1997 this area was considerably larger, probably due to a higher freshwater discharge. During the 1999 cruise, which took place 3 weeks earlier, salinities were generally higher. Both species composition and overall abundances were higher in 1999 than in 1997, due especially to the enormous increase of Limnocalanus macrurus and Pseudocalanus major.

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