Response of Zooplankton Indices to Anthropogenic Pressure in the Catchment of Field Ponds

Abstract

As methods for assessing the environmental conditions in ponds are still not well developed, I studied zooplankton to identify a response of community indices to abiotic, biotic, and habitat type in two types of ponds differing in the level of human stress. Ponds of low human alterations (LowHI) harbored generally richer communities and a higher share littoral zooplankton, whose occurrence was associated with higher water transparency and complex macrophyte habitat, particularly the presence of hornworts and charoids. In high human-impact ponds (HighHI) planktonic communities prevailed. Their distribution was mainly related to the open water area and fish presence. Anthropogenic disturbance was also reflected in the frequency of rare species, which were associated with LowHI ponds. Higher diversity of zooplankton increased the chance for rare species to occur. Despite the fact that the majority of rare species are littoral-associated, they had no prevalence towards a certain ecological type of plants, which suggests that any kind of plant cover, even macrophytes typical for eutrophic waters (e.g., Ceratophyllum demersum) will create a valuable habitat for conservation purposes. Thus, it is postulated that a complex and dense cover of submerged macrophytes ought to be maintained in order to improve the ecological value of small water bodies.

Were there any changes in zooplankton communities due to the limitation of restoration treatments?

“…Keratella cochlearis (Gosse), K. Cochlearis f. tecta (Gosse), K. quadrata (Müller), Pompholyx sulcata Hudson, Synchaeta sp., Trichocerca pusilla (Lauterborn) and Trichocerca sp. They were species characteristic for waters with the high trophic state(Ejsmont-Karabin, 2012;Kuczyńska-Kippen, 2020), similarly as in the previous years(BR-2011 and SR-2012-14) …”

The investigation of the zooplankton community in the newly formed Ribb Reservoir, Ethiopia: the tropical highland reservoir

“…Zooplankton species richness can vary based on several factors, including geographic region, trophic type, morphometric characteristics, or even the origin of a body of water (Duggan et al, 2002;Vijayakumari et al, 2018). It also depends on the extent of anthropogenic transformation in the vicinity of a pond (Bhuyan et al, 2020;Kuczy nska-Kippen, 2020) and phychochemical charactrestics (Mozumder et al, 2010;Niyoyitungiye et al, 2020aNiyoyitungiye et al, , 2020b. According to the biodiversity index, zooplankton is less diverse in the tropics than in temperate zones (Fernando, 1980).…”

Water Quality of Freshwater Ecosystems in a Temperate Climate

“…Kuczyńska-Kippen [11] presents the results of studies on the response of zooplankton community indices to abiotic, biotic, and habitat traits in two types of ponds differing in the level of human stress. Ponds of low human alterations characterize richer communities and a higher share of littoral zooplankton, whose occurrence was associated with higher water transparency and complex macrophyte habitats.…”

“…Very large loads also originate from agriculture; they can be particularly intensive in the case of large farms using high doses of mineral fertilizers. They are non-point sources, reaching the waterbody along the entire shoreline [10,11]. Excessive nutrient concentration causes a hypereutrophic state of waterbodies, which is manifested by an intensive growth of phytoplankton, loss of submerged vegetation and a decrease in the biodiversity of benthic macroinvertebrates [12].…”