The temporal and spatial distribution of planktonic and benthic protozoan communities in a small productive lake

Abstract

An investigation into the spatial and temporal distribution of protozoa in Esthwaite Water, a small eutrophic lake in the English Lake District, was carried out from mid-June until late September, 1977, during the period of summer stratification. Quantitative analyses of planktonic protozoan populations were performed on water samples collected at I m intervals throughout the water column and individual depth-time distribution profiles were constructed for the major ciliate species. Population density and species succession of the benthic protozoa was also studied.

Small-scale temporal and spatial variations in protistan community composition at the San Pedro Ocean Time-series station off the coast of southern California

“…Environmental factors have often been reported as important forces shaping planktonic communities over both spatial and temporal scales (Bark 1981, Lopes et al 2005, Martiny et al 2006), but no significant correlations between environmental parameters and small-scale spatial and temporal variability were observed in our study. The lack of correlation between physical and chemical environmental parameters and community similarity in the present study was not surprising given the low variability of these parameters (Tables 1 & 2; standard deviation of both spatial and daily measurement of temperature: 0.77°C; salinity: 0.23; pH: 0.06).…”

“…Studies of the small-scale spatial variability of protistan communities, however, have focused largely on vertical position in the water column (e.g. Bark 1981, Rines et al 2002, Lopes et al 2005, Behnke et al 2006. Information on the smallscale horizontal variability of protistan community composition is rare.…”

Water column anoxia: vertical zonation of planktonic protozoa

“…When stratification is seasonal, the development of an anoxic hypolimnion is accompanied by an exodus of otherwise benthic ciliates which find their preferred oxygen tension in the water column and even the obligatory anaerobes become planktonic. The eukaryote plankton of hypoxic waters is almost, a n d in the case of anoxic water exclusively, composed by protozoa (Goulder 1972, 1974, Finlay 1980, Bark 1981.…”

Temporal and Spatial Variations in the Species Composition, Distribution, and Abundance of Protozoa in East Dongting Lake, China

“…DISCUSSION The protozoans of East Dongting Lake exhibited similarity to those reported from Chinese eutrophic lakes (Song 2000a, Xu et al 2005. Shen et al (1990) reported that Peritricha was the most abundant group in eutrophic tropical lakes, and Vorficella and Epistylis species have been reported as ubiquitous elements of freshwater protozooplankton and relatively common in eutrophic lakes (Shcherbavov 1969, Bark 1981, Shen et al 1990, Song 2000a. Peritricha and Suctoria occur in association with crustaceans, organic particles, and hydrophytes (Kerr 1983, Laybourn-Parry et al 1994, Patterson and Hedley 1992.…”