Plankton in the River Rhine: structural and functional changes observed during downstream transport

Steveninck, E. D. de Ruyter van; Admiraal, Wim; Breebaart, L.; Tubbing, G.M.J.; Zanten, B. van

doi:10.1093/plankt/14.10.1351

Cited by 104 publications

(64 citation statements)

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“…Diversity followed a similar trend even with slightly higher values occurring in the small roundshaped lakes "Gurne" (Site 2). This confirms earliest river concepts such as the River Continuum Concept (Vannote et al, 1980) a downstream directed plankton development, observed in many larger rivers (De Ruyter van Steveninck et al, 1992;Meister, 1994;Viroux, 1997Viroux, , 2002Kim and Joo, 2000). High river flow regime is probably the reason of the low abundance of cladocerans and copepods with lower adaptation level to different habitat types, than rotifers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Spring rotifer community structure in the Alcantara River (Sicily, Italy), using different mesh size nets: relation to environmental factors

Rodríguez

Granata

Guglielmo

et al. 2013

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

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-The present study focus on some aspects of zooplankton structure in the Alcantara River (Sicily, Italy), in relation to environmental factors. Zooplankton samplings were performed in spring in four sites, located from up-to downstream along the river course. Four low-flow velocity station points were chosen along a transversal river section in each site. Samples were taken from all station points in the four sites by two different mesh sizes (55 and 100 mm) rectangular nets. Rotifer abundances were an order of magnitude higher in 55 mm mesh size samples than in 100 mm mesh size ones. The two communities also resulted significantly different (ANOSIM test, r = 0.212; P = 0.1%). Generally, low abundances (from 3470 ¡ 5133 to 422 ¡ 474 ind.m x3 ) were explained by low chlorophyll a concentration and the highflow regime of this river. Rotifer dominated the zooplankton community. Cladocerans, copepods and nauplii occurred with considerably lower abundances than rotifers. However, the relative contributions of these taxa to total abundances depended on the mesh sizes used. Euchlanis and Adineta genera exhibited the highest abundances in the rotifer assemblage. Conductivity alone or in association with temperature and dissolved oxygen was the most important environmental factor affecting rotifer community distribution. Cephalodella sp., Lepadella sp. and Trichotria pocillum showed a high positive relation to pico-plankton, showing this fraction as a possible rotifer food item. This paper demonstrated a higher efficiency of the finest net to characterize riverine zooplankton community that increases from up to downstream in terms of abundances and diversity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Spring rotifer community structure in the Alcantara River (Sicily, Italy), using different mesh size nets: relation to environmental factors

Rodríguez

Granata

Guglielmo

et al. 2013

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

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“…Zooplankton flushing from lakes can also be caused by catastrophic drift due to rainfall events and may be night-active, due to vertical migrations of crustaceans (Campbell, 2002). Their drift in rivers, as in the Rhine or the Ohio Rivers (De Ruyter Van Steveninck et al, 1992;Thorp et al, 1994), reproduce the seasonal succession of plankton classically observed in lakes (Sommer et al, 1986). Rotifers are more numerous in spring and cladocerans in summer, spring pulses in the plankton being linked to spring floods and reflecting lacustrine situations.…”

Section: Reservoirs As a Major Source Of Crustaceansmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the chances for rotifers of growing effectively in lotic environments may be greater than those of crustaceans, and certainly rest on their shorter development times. Indeed, rotifer populations sometimes double their numbers at twice the rate of crustaceans (De Ruyter van Steveninck et al, 1992).…”

Section: Characteristics Of Riverine Meta-zooplanktonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 7), Pace et al (1992) clearly demonstrated that differences in community biomass are partially determined by advection, which is more important for zooplankton than for phytoplankton, because zooplankton have longer generation times. Since, at a 1-year scale, abundances of algae and zooplankton show strong inverse relationships to discharge, transport remains the principal topic of studies conducted on large scales by many authors (Ward, 1975;De Paggi, 1978;De Ruyter Van Steveninck et al, 1992;Pace et al, 1992;Viroux, 1997;Campbell, 2002). These studies are carried out in conjunction with surveillance programmes, which follow changes in water quality.…”

Section: Lateral Exchanges Versus Downstream Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A review of regulation mechanisms of metazoan plankton in riverine ecosystems: aquatic habitat versus biota

2006

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This review summarizes the key factors of a series of articles about animal plankton in rivers, a topic that remains poorly investigated. Running water, in which sampling processes are variable and often difficult, acts as a constraint as well as a resource for plankton. Assessment of the potamoplankton reveals that good swimmers of the true plankton are mixed with numerous poor swimmers among littoral and epibenthic forms. Small taxa dominate communities in most of rivers all over the world and, in comparison with crustaceans; the successful development of rotifers rests on their shorter development times. According to hydraulic and geomorphological features, the diversity of the habitats and the ability of individuals to avoid washout was examined, decrease in flow creating standing zones favourable to zooplankton development. Many species can find suitable conditions for the development of dense populations in stream habitats and examples of taxa-specific response, regardless of the habitat structure, are observed. While the challenge for riverine plankton remains 'eat to be fruitful and multiply', their activities have been poorly investigated in turbulent conditions, those able to continue growing in a current of 20 cm s À1, such as brachionid species, being usually dominant in rivers. Examination of the distribution of plankton populations, in the Middle Loire and in other rivers, showed that the flow regime, which plays a central role in organizing river habitats, explains the presence/absence of these fast-growing organisms. While reservoirs are major sources of crustaceans, lateral exchanges as well as downstream transport are important in determining the plankton. These ecosystems are primarily governed by abiotic factors, biological control taking place after physical control has happened. Because animals arrive by chance in any habitat during dispersion, zooplankton in rivers remains primarily governed by unpredictable physical processes and depends on the age of the water and the availability of habitats. In this way, the hydro-dynamics of river habitats need to be more documented with regard to their key role in the planktonic life. Preservation of the lentic areas remaining at the heart of the matter, the contrasting ecology of the rotifers should be a reliable tool with which to estimate the changes in habitats diversity of main channels, particularly during droughts, while crustacean's diversity would be more representative of flood plain annexes, particularly during flood events.

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“…In our calculations we used bacterial growth rates measured in the Rhine in 1990(de Ruyter van Steveninck et al, 1992. The phytoplankton abundance in the Rhine has decreased since then (see discussion above).…”

Section: Fate Of Riverine Plankton Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Planktonic food web structure and potential carbon flow in the Lower River Rhine with a focus on the role of protozoans

et al. 2005

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Studies during the last two decades have revealed the importance of planktonic micro-organisms in the aquatic matter flux. However, studies on the planktonic food web structure have mostly concentrated on lentic waters. In the present study the biomass partitioning of the major plankton groups (bacteria, algae, heterotrophic flagellates (HF), ciliates and metazoans) in a large river (Lower River Rhine) has been analysed for a complete annual cycle and calculations on potential carbon flow within the planktonic food web were conducted for the four seasons. The plankton biomass was dominated by phytoplankton followed by bacterioplankton. The zooplankton was dominated by HF, contributing more than 65% of the total zooplankton biomass in all seasons. A significant part of the HF biomass was contributed by large flagellates (>20 mm). In accordance with the dominance of the HF and their high growth rates, this group contributed the largest part of the planktonic matter turnover within the zooplankton. The calculations suggest that the HF were able to consume between 11 and 65% of the seasonal mean bacterial production and that the HF consumed a larger amount of phytoplankton than both ciliates and metazoans. According to these calculations, only a small part of the total potential production of the phytoplankton as well as that of the total zooplankton was consumed by planktonic predators. Since the plankton abundance did not generally increase during the downstream passage, the present data suggest that a large part of the plankton production is lost by other means. The role of benthic predators has been discussed in this context.

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Plankton in the River Rhine: structural and functional changes observed during downstream transport

Cited by 104 publications

References 0 publications

Spring rotifer community structure in the Alcantara River (Sicily, Italy), using different mesh size nets: relation to environmental factors

Spring rotifer community structure in the Alcantara River (Sicily, Italy), using different mesh size nets: relation to environmental factors

A review of regulation mechanisms of metazoan plankton in riverine ecosystems: aquatic habitat versus biota

Planktonic food web structure and potential carbon flow in the Lower River Rhine with a focus on the role of protozoans

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