Comparative analysis of rotifer community structure in five subtropical shallow lakes in East China: role of physical and chemical conditions

Abstract

Worldwide, there have been few comparative studies on rotifer communities in subtropical lakes. We studied changes in rotifer community structure over 1 year and its relationship to several physicochemical variables in five subtropical shallow lakes in East China, covering a nutrient gradient from mesotrophy to moderate eutrophy. In these lakes, the genera Brachionus, Lecane, and Trichocerca dominated the rotifer species composition, and Polyarthra dolichoptera, Keratella cochlearis, Filinia longiseta, T. pusilla, and Anuraeopsis fissa were the dominant species. With increased nutrient loading, total rotifer abundance and species dominance increased, indicating that rotifer abundance might be a more sensitive indicator of trophic state than species composition. Comparative analyses of the six rotifer community indices calculated in this study and redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the two slightly eutrophic lakes and the other two moderately eutrophic lakes exhibited a high degree similarity in community structure. This suggests that the trophic state of a lake determines the rotifer community structure. In contrast, in the two moderately eutrophic lakes, the mass ratios of TN:TP and the contents of TP suggested N-limitation and cyanobacteria dominance in phytoplankton communities might be possible. In these lakes TN played a more important role in shaping the rotifer community according to stepwise multiple regression and RDA. RDA analysis also suggested that rotifer species distribution was strongly associated with trophic state and water temperature, with water temperature being the most important factor in determining seasonality.

Diversity of Monogononta rotifer species among standing waterbodies in northern Cambodia

“…Even though C. coenobasis is newly recorded from this study, it was considered cosmopolitan by Segers (2007). It is therefore surprising that this species had not been previously recorded from Cambodia while it and other members of the same genus have previously been found in neighboring countries (Sanoamuang et al, 1995;Savatenalinton and Segers, 2005;Segers and Sanoamuang, 2007;Sa-Ardrit et al, 2013;Trinh Dang et al, 2013), Europe (Koste and Hollowday, 1993;Bonecker and Lansac-Tôha, 1996) and China (Wen et al, 2011). From both abundance and incidence data, Polyarthra spp.…”

Differences in life table parameters betweenKeratella tropicaandKeratella valga(Rotatoria) from subtropical shallow lakes

“…The difference in optimum water temperature for the two rotifer species from subtropical lakes might lead to different patterns of population dynamics, species coexistence, and possible niche differentiation in time within a single aquatic ecosystem. In Lake Tingtang and Lake Jinghu, the highest K. tropica density usually occurs in July and August at which the water temperature ranges from 28 C to 33 C, but K. valga population reaches a peak density in May and June at which the water temperature ranges from 22 C to 26 C (Wen et al 2011). The seasonal dynamics of K. tropica and K. valga populations may be further changed by climate changes.…”

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

“…However, the majority of studies to date have focused on cladocerans. In contrast, little is known about the relationship between tropic status and rotifers, the principal component of freshwater zooplankton communities (Castro et al, 2005;Wen et al, 2011). Rotifers play a major role in transferring energy from phytoplankton to fi sh, a factor that should be taken into account given their higher rate of growth, reproduction, and metabolism which makes a substantial contribution to zooplankton production (Sládeček, 1983;Castro et al, 2005).…”