The present study aimed to analyze variations in population dynamics of the Copepoda Calanopia americana (C. americana) in a reef area in tropical Brazil. Diurnal and nocturnal samples were collected at a fixed station during ebb tide, over four lunar cycles, and in the dry and rainy seasons. C. americana presence was very frequent (94%) and occurred in nearly all samples. Overall, juveniles presented higher densities than adults, and females were more abundant than males. There was a significant difference (p < 0.001) between the dry and rainy period for density, biomass and production, with the largest average values observed during the dry season (97.2 ± 91.0 ind.m ). During the dry season, the amount of available light coupled with a lower amount of suspended material interferes with the community by increasing the density and influencing the productivity of C. americana. Although some studies have shown the influence of the lunar cycle on the migration processes of C. americana, in this study these variation did not have significant influence on population dynamics.
In the semi-arid region of Brazil, artificial reservoirs are extremely important ecological and social ecosystems. Due to pressures caused by long periods of pluviometric irregularity, the reservoirs Cachoeira I and Barra, located in the interior of Pernambuco (Brazil), have been subject to very significant changes, marked mainly by the reduction of stored water volume, seasonal changes in the abiotic parameters (example: pH, turbidity), reduction of riparian vegetation and absence of macrophytes. All these changes were observed in this study through the use of an auxiliary monitoring tool, a rapid assessment protocol adapted for lentic ecosystems of semiarid, capable of detecting numerous types of environmental changes.
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