Seasonal and inter-annual community structure characteristics of zooplankton driven by water environment factors in a sub-lake of Lake Poyang, China

PeerJ

article

Beijuan Hu¹  Xuren Hu¹  Xue Nie¹  Xiaoke Zhang²  Naicheng Wu³  Yijiang Hong¹  Hai Ming Qin⁴ 

[1] School of Life Science and Center for Watershed Ecology of Institute of Life Science, Nanchang University;Research Center of Aquatic Organism Conservation and Water Ecosystem Restoration in University of Anhui Province, Anqing Normal University;Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University;School of Life Science and Center for Watershed Ecology of Institute of Life Science;School of Life Sciences;Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecosystem Change and Biodiversity, Nanchang University;Qufu Normal University

关键词: Community structure;    Zooplankton;    Seasonal dynamics;    Interannual variation;    Shallow lakes;    Poyang lake;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.7590

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSub-lakes are important for the maintenance of the ecosystem integrity of Lake Poyang, and zooplankton play an important role in its substance and energy flow.MethodsA seasonal investigation of zooplankton was conducted in spring (April), summer (July), autumn (October) and winter (January of the following year) from 2012 to 2016 in a sub-lake of Lake Poyang. The aim of the present study was to understand the seasonal dynamics and interannual variation of zooplankton communities and their relationship to environmental factors.ResultsA total of 115 species were identified in all samples in the four years, which comprised of 87 Rotifera, 13 Cladocera and 15 Copepoda. Rotifera was the dominant group in terms of quantity, and its species richness and abundance were significantly higher when compared to Cladocera and Copepoda (P < 0.05), while Cladocera dominated in terms of biomass. The species richness of Rotifera exhibited a significant seasonal difference (P < 0.05). Both the density and biomass of zooplankton revealed significant seasonal differences (P < 0.05). In general, the density and biomass of zooplankton were higher in summer and autumn, when compared to winter and spring. Biodiversity indices were dramatically lower in spring than in the other seasons. The non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis suggested that these zooplankton communities can be divided into three groups: spring community, summer-autumn community, and winter community. The seasonal succession of zooplankton communities did not have interannual reproducibility. In high water level years, the dominant species of zooplankton (Cladocerans and Copepods) in the wet season had a lower density, and the result in low water level years was exactly the opposite. The redundancy analysis revealed that water temperature (WT), conductivity, pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) had significant effects on the zooplankton community.ConclusionsThe community structure of zooplankton has a significant seasonal pattern, but has no interannual repeatability. In high water level years, the dominant species of zooplankton (Cladocerans and Copepods) in the wet season had a lower density, and the result in low water level years was exactly the opposite. The density, biomass and diversity indices of zooplankton were significantly different in different seasons. The present study was helpful in the further understanding of the ecosystem stability of lakes connected with rivers, providing scientific guidance for the protection of lake wetlands.

【 授权许可】

CC BY