Does the location of coastal brackish waters determine diversity and abundance of zooplankton assemblages?

Abstract

Habitat conditions may shape the abundance and community structure of planktonic fauna. In this study, we investigated whether reservoirs with different locations and drainage basins also differed in the structure and abundance of zooplankton. The studies were conducted in 2010-2011 between June and October in the Vistula Lagoon and Lake Łebsko. The zooplankton was dominated mainly by small eurytopic organisms belonging to Rotifera. Plankton crustaceans showed a limited diversity of species. Copepods were predominant, while Cladocera were observed sporadically in more freshwater habitats. In the first experimental season (2010), the Vistula Lagoon and Lake Łebsko showed a comparable taxonomic structure and an abundance of investigated zooplankton; a substantially higher density was recorded in Lake Łebsko in 2011, although the taxonomic diversity was higher in the Vistula Lagoon. Zooplankton biomass in a given season differed between these 2 water bodies, but not statistically significantly. The differences in location in the investigated water bodies impacted zooplankton assemblage structure and abundance. The drainage basin type (urbanized areas, forested areas, waterlogged areas) appeared to influence zooplankton species richness significantly.

Characteristics of Two Lagoons in the Coastal Area of the Baltic Sea

“…The zooplankton community structure in the Mērsrags lagoon also indicates high trophy. These observations correspond to the investigations of other lagoons and coastal lakes [15,[54][55][56]60,65]. For example, in the Latvian eutrophic coastal lowland lakes Juglas and K , īšezers, only one species from Rotifera, Keratella quadrata, dominated, and the structure of zooplankton communities was characterized by a decreased species richness, numbers of dominating species, and species diversity indices [66].…”

“…The zooplankton community structure-as indicated by functional traits, taxonomic composition, diversity (Simpson's reciprocal index), abundance, and biomass-shows distinct habitats in the Mērsrags and "Randu pl , avas" lagoons along the Baltic Sea. These differences have likely been driven by environmental conditions, seeing that these sorts of dynamic processes and the eutrophication of lagoons are characteristic of Baltic Sea coastal areas (beaches, lagoons, estuaries, coastal lakes) [54][55][56][57][58][59][60], as is the growth of covering macrophyte beds [61]. The higher diversity of zooplankton and the dominance of benthic-psammic-periphytic rotifers and epibenthic harpacticoids in the "Randu pl , avas" lagoon indicate dynamic conditions marked by water flow (mixing) and sediment re-suspension due to shallowness and covering macrophyte beds, which is congruent with other studies [56,57,62,63].…”

Assessment of the zooplankton community structure of the coastal Uzungöl Lagoon (Kızılırmak Delta, Turkey) based on community indices and physicochemical parameters

“…Various studies in lagoons in coastal regions revealed that rotifer species richness increases in zooplankton in relation with eutrophication (Park and Marshall, 2000;Demirkalp et al, 2004;Saygı et al, 2011;Gündüz et al, 2013;Gutkowska et al, 2018).…”

“…In the studies conducted in the Karaboğaz and Liman lagoons in Kızılırmak Delta, it has been reported that Rotifera was the most dominant group of zooplankton and this was related to eutrophication (Saygı et al, 2011;Gündüz et al, 2013). In the Baltic Lagoons, the zooplankton community of the coastal brackish waters have dominated mainly small eutrophic organisms belonging to Rotifera (Gutkowska et al, 2018).…”