The relative importance of physicochemical factors and crustacean zooplankton as determinants of rotifer density and species distribution in lakes adjacent to the Yangtze River, China

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe planktonic community of freshwater Rotifera in 27 subtropical lakes was studied to assess the relative importance of physicochemical factors and crustacean zooplankton as determinants of rotifer density and species distribution. Factor analysis and multiple linear regressions showed that 21.9% and 29.9% of the variance in rotifer density was explained by physicochemical factors and crustaceans, respectively. Larger rotifer density was possible in shallower lakes with higher concentration of inorganic nitrogen and less herbivorous crustaceans such as Sinocalanus dorrii and Daphnia. Redundancy analysis showed that the variances of rotifer species distribution explained by crustaceans and physicochemical factors were 26.9% and 31.0%, respectively. Further analysis demonstrated that the variances explained by pure crustaceans and pure physicochemical factors were 12.5% and 16.6%, respectively. However, these two percentages were not statistically different. Rotifer species distribution was strongly associated with Chl a and Moina micrura. Their coexistence with crustaceans seemed to be determined by their defense against potential predators and competitors.

Response of rotifer community to environmental changes in five shallow lakes in the middle reach of Changjiang River, China

“…calycifl orus , and B . forfi cula was related to the level of eutrophication, which is consistent with previous reports (Bērziņš and Pejler, 1989;Duggan et al, 2002;Wang et al, 2010). Conductivity, TP, TN, and NH 4 -N were all key determinants of rotifer community structure.…”

“…Most previous reports have focused on the composition and seasonal changes of rotifer communities in a single lake or a few lakes along the lower reach of the Changjiang River basin (Yang et al, 2009;Wen et al, 2011), or have focused on the composition and density, but not diversity of the rotifer community (Wang et al, 2010). Given this, our objectives were to: (1) evaluate whether the rotifer community structure can be use as an index of the trophic status of the shallow lakes in the Changjiang River basin; and (2) evaluate the relationship between environmental variables related to trophic status and the rotifer community structure.…”

Zooplankton Communities in the Shallow Lake Guiers (Senegal, West Africa)

“…The spatial and temporal variations of zooplankton communities are strongly related to abiotic (physical) and biotic (trophic relationships) forcing factors (WETZEL, 1983;GUE-VARA et al, 2009;WANG et al, 2010). In the present study, zooplankton showed a marked seasonal cycle, with peaks of biomass occurring during the warm season (period 2).…”

Zooplankton dynamics in a gypsum karst lake and interrelation with the abiotic environment

“…The multiple regression analysis showed that the highest significant correlations were between chl-a concentration and rotifer abundance. Many authors have suggested that food availability has a major impact on rotifer's community (Devetter 1998;Wang et al 2010) and, although many zooplanktonic species appear to respond to increased food availability, rotifers are expected to respond proportionally more than crustaceans because predation pressure limits large-bodied zooplankton (Beaver & Havens 1996). Also, D. polymorpha larvae as exclusively herbivores seem to have been influenced by the phytoplankton biomass as represented by chl-a concentration.…”