Freshwater calanoid copepods develop abundant populations in lentic water bodies such as lakes, reservoirs and lagoons. In this study, we examined the potential habitat value of edges in lotic systems such as creeks and rivers where waters tend to stagnate, providing lentic‐like environments. We examined a total of 353 edge samples collected from 321 sites across the state of New South Wales, Australia, with latitudes in the range 28.3–37.4°S and elevations in the range 2–1834 m above sea level. Of the total samples examined, calanoid copepods were found in 94 samples, with the frequency of occurrences of species decreasing in the order: Boeckella fluvialis Henry, B. triarticulata (Thomson), Gladioferens spinosus Henry, G. pectinatus (Brady), B. major Searle, B. minuta Sars, and Calamoecia lucasi Brady. The probability of occurrence of the calanoid copepods was related negatively to both latitude (as absolute values) and elevation, based on logistic regression models. We conclude that the edges of many lotic systems provide additional habitats for some species of freshwater calanoid copepods, with constraints on their distributions along latitudinal and elevational gradients.
Inland wetlands are areas of high biodiversity, providing various ecosystem services. In this study, we assessed the species diversity of wetland zooplankton in the Lachlan River catchment. Biodiversity sampling is labour-intensive and attained sample size is often not large enough to detect all species present. Therefore, we applied integrated rarefaction and extrapolation sampling curves and asymptotic analysis to estimate species richness. We observed 103 species of rotifers, 29 species of cladocerans and 13 species of copepods, with further 14 rotifers, three cladocerans and four copepods identified at higher than species level, totalling 117 taxa of rotifers, 32 taxa of cladocerans and 17 taxa of copepods from 36 wetland sites across the catchment. The observed zooplankton species included the first record of the rotifer Trochosphaera solstitialis in Australia, and the first record of the rotifers Brachionus lyratus tasmaniensis, Keratella shieli, Lepadella tyleri, Notholca salina and N. squamula and the cladoceran Alona setuloides in NSW. Based on the integrated sampling curves and asymptotic analysis of species richness in wetlands of the Lachlan River catchment, greater additions of rotifers (estimated asymptote: ≈ 145) are more likely to be realised with increasing sample size than those of cladocerans (estimated asymptote: ≈ 36) and copepods (estimated asymptote: ≈ 18).
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