The Impact of Water Chemistry on Zooplankton Occurrence in Two Types (Field versus Forest) of Small Water Bodies

Abstract

We examined the influence of water chemistry on zooplankton community structure in the unvegetated zone (open water) and among different types of macrophytes (helophytes and elodeids) in 12 ponds located in two types of catchment area (mid-forest and mid-field).An equal occurrence of rotifers and crustaceans was found in mid-field ponds, while rotifers prevailed over crustaceans in mid-forest ponds which may have been due to phytoflagellate prevalence, contributing to diminishing the diversity index.We found variation in physical-chemical features between both types of ponds with higher trophic status, confirmed by eutrophy indicators (K. quadrata or B. longirwostris) frequent occurrence, in the case of mid-field ponds. The type of water body (forest vs. field) was the best predictor of zooplankton species distribution using DCA analysis. Two groups of zooplankton species were distinguished: (1) related to the mid-forest ponds (representatives of genera: Cephalodella, Lepadella, Lecane, Trichocerca), where zooplankton densities positively correlated with chlorophyll a and CDOC and (2) related to the mid-field ponds (representatives of genera: Keratella, Bosmina or Ceriodaphnia).Spatial differentiation of zooplankton community structure was also recorded with lower species diversity attributed to the open water zone compared to vegetated areas. Crustacean densities rose along the heterogeneity gradient of a habitat (from the open water to the zone of elodeids), which indicates the best refuge conditions in the most complex habitat during the daylight-hours in the ponds with fish presence. Rotifers (especially those equipped with morphological adaptations againt predators) remained in the open water despite the presence of fish.

Structure of rotifer assemblages in shallow waterbodies of semi-arid northwest Iran differing in salinity and vegetation cover

“…The positive relationship between rotifer richness and macrophyte coverage in our study confirms the hypothesis that higher aquatic macrophyte cover supports a higher diversity. Habitats which contain littoral vegetation hosted more rotifer species as was evident in several studies (Zimmermann-Timm et al, 2007;Kuczyńska-Kippen & Joniak, 2010). High rotifer diversity in macrophyte-covered zones has been attributed to their habitat heterogeneity (Castro et al, 2005), food availability (Kuczyńska-Kippen, 2005), and their role in providing stable environments (Basu et al, 2000).…”

“…According to the NMDS plot, dimension 1 separates lakes into two groups. In the first group were shallow eutrophic lakes from European temperate zones, i.e., field ponds in western Poland (Kuczyńska-Kippen & Joniak, 2010), and three shallow lakes from the central part of Portugal (Castro et al, 2005), as well as five subtropical shallow lakes in East China (Wen et al, 2011), representing the group without increased salinity. The second group comprised Canadian chloride-salted lakes (Derry et al, 2003), lakes from a semi-arid region in Turkey (Kaya et al, 2010), and our waterbodies in Iran.…”

The response of phytoplankton, zooplankton and macrozoobenthos communities to change in the water supply from surface to groundwater in aquaculture ponds

“…B. longirostris, the dominant cladoceran species, almost entirely vanish after mid-July providing space for flourishment of Rotifers through lessening the competition for food between these two (Yang et al, 2005). One of the reasons for the crash of Bosmina population could be explained by the predatory pressure from fish, since high water temperature (Rettig et al, 2006) and eutrophic state are factors favouring the development of this species (Kuczyn´ska-Kippen and Joniak, 2010). Although there is some controversy going on concerning the size of common carp preferring zooplankton in their diet (Rahman et al, 2010) there is evidence that carp can consume smaller crustaceans, especially when they are in very high densities (Milstein, 1992).…”

Effects of Pond Fertilization and Feeding of Carp Fry (Cyprinus carpio L.) on Diversity of Zooplankton Groups (Rotifera, Cladocera, and Copepoda)

“…Zooplankton can control the species composition and biomass as well as productivity of producers: phytoplankton and bacteria [10][11]. That is why zooplankton plays such an important role both in ponds and in other aquatic ecosystems.…”

“…That is why zooplankton plays such an important role both in ponds and in other aquatic ecosystems. The structure of zooplankton can differ between habitats due to physicochemical conditions [6] and the diversity of algal and macrophyte communities [11][12].…”