Hydrological conditions are responsible for the changes in lateral connectivity between the main river channel and the floodplain lakes, a factor controlling zooplankton abundance and diversity. We tested the hypothesis that the degree of connectivity between the aquatic habitats and the river channel governs the zooplankton densities and community structure. Abundances, community composition and species diversity of zooplankton were analysed against the gradient of lakes' connectivity and the water quality parameters under a natural flood pulse in the Biebrza River (North-Eastern Poland). Our findings revealed that the water level fluctuations directly affect the availability of nutrients, aeration, what in turn controls the densities and biovolumes of zooplankton communities. Along with the increase in the lake isolation, the taxonomic diversity of zooplankton decreased, while the eudomination of taxa indicative of advanced trophy (Rotifera) was observed. Qualitative parameters, as number of species, diversity and richness, were significantly higher at mean water levels, which supports the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. The sensitivity of the zooplankton community to variable hydrological conditions and lateral connectivity gradient demonstrates its potential as an unexploited indicator of any habitat changes in the aquatic ecosystems.
Water turbidity can significantly influence interspecific interactions in aquatic ecosystems. We tested the hypothesis that the turbidity gradient significantly differentiates the dynamics, significance and type of relationships in the structure of zooplankton communities colonizing mine pit reservoirs. The interactions between zooplankton species were evaluated by network graph analysis for three water turbidity classes: high turbidity (HT), moderate turbidity (MT) and low turbidity (LT). The HT network was most cohesive, and it was controlled by taxa grazing on various food sources within one ecological niche (Polyarthra longiremis, Brachionus angularis, Cyclops vicinus, Codonella cratera) and the positive and negative relationships between them were balanced. The MT biocenotic network was composed of three sub-networks connected by nodes with high communication attributes (Polyarthra vulgaris, Bosmina longirostris, C. vicinus), and antagonistic interactions (predation and competition) were less important. The LT network was most heterogeneous, and Daphnia cuculllata exerted the strongest influence on the network’s structure by forming numerous positive (coexistence with predators) and negative (interference competition with microphagous rotifers) interspecific relationships. The study provides new information about the ecology of aquatic ecosystems, that are disturbed by changes in water turbidity.
The aim of this study was to determine the structure of zooplankton in three artificial water reservoirs, the technological function of which is to pre-treat waters from a drainage system of a brown coal open mine by removing inorganic suspension. The background for the zooplankton qualitative and quantitative analyses was the hydrochemical conditions in the individual reservoirs. The greatest zooplankton abundance (N), number of taxa (n), Shannon’s diversity (H'), and species eveness (J') was noted in reservoir Chabielice (Nmean = 1311 ind. L−1, n = 26, H' = 2.09, J' = 0.64) which was dominated by eurytopic Rotifera species (Keratella cochlearis,Keratella tecta,Keratella valga,Polyarthra longiremis,Filinia longiseta). Their abundance was positively correlated with water pH and nutrient concentrations. Reservoir Kamień was characterized by the highest mean values of total suspension (9.6 mg L−1), chlorophyll a (Chl a) content (10.4 μg L−1), and water temperature (20.0 °C). These factors significantly correlated with crustacean biomass. The thermal-oxygenation conditions, low trophic level, and low productivity of the water (Chl a = 5.4 μg L−1) in reservoir Północny determined the overall low zooplankton abundance (Nmean = 153 ind. L−1). Artificial water bodies of opencast mine drainage systems are biologically unstable, but they do have some characteristics of natural ecosystems, and they do take over their functions. Zooplankton is an indicator of their ecological functionality. Knowledge gained about such reservoirs could contribute to decision-making about strategies for water reclamation and how to manage it.
Water from mining drainage is turbid because of suspensions. We tested the hypothesis that the chemical composition as well as shape and size of particles in suspensions of natural origin affect the density and functional diversity of zooplankton. The suspensions were analyzed with atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and optical microscopy. Elements found in the beidellite clays were also identified in the mineral structure of the particles. As the size of the microparticles decreased, the weight proportions of phosphorus, sulfur, and chlorine increased in the suspensions. These conditions facilitated the biomass growth of large and small microphages and raptorials. As the size of the nanoparticles decreased, the shares of silicon, aluminum, iron, and magnesium increased. These conditions inhibited raptorials the most. Ecosystem functionality was the highest with intermediate suspension parameters, which were at the lower range of the microphase and the upper range of the nanophase. The functional traits of zooplankton demonstrate their potential for use as sensitive indicators of disruptions in aquatic ecosystems that are linked with the presence of suspensions, and they facilitate gaining an understanding of the causes and scales of the impact of suspensions.
This work deals with the consequences of climate warming on aquatic ecosystems. The study determined the effects of increased water temperatures in artificial lakes during winter on predicting changes in the biomass of zooplankton taxa and their environment. We applied an innovative approach to investigate the effects of winter warming on zooplankton and physico-chemical factors. We used a modelling scheme combining hierarchical clustering, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) algorithms. Under the influence of increased water temperatures in winter, weight- and frequency-dominant Crustacea taxa such as Daphnia cucullata, Cyclops vicinus, Cryptocyclops bicolor, copepodites and nauplii, and the Rotifera: Polyarthra longiremis, Trichocerca pusilla, Keratella quadrata, Asplanchna priodonta and Synchaeta spp. tend to decrease their biomass. Under the same conditions, Rotifera: Lecane spp., Monommata maculata, Testudinella patina, Notholca squamula, Colurella colurus, Trichocerca intermedia and the protozoan species Centropyxis acuelata and Arcella discoides with lower size and abundance responded with an increase in biomass. Decreases in chlorophyll a, suspended solids and total nitrogen were predicted due to winter warming. Machine learning ensemble models used in innovative ways can contribute to the research utility of studies on the response of ecological units to environmental change.
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