Crustacean Zooplankton Communities and Lake Morphometry in Precambrian Shield Lakes

Abstract

To investigate relationships between crustacean zooplankton communities and lake morphometry we sampled 60 near-neutral Precambrian Shield lakes, including many small, shallow lakes. Morphometry-related patterns in the distributions of many zooplankton species were evident. Lake depth determined the occurrence of hypolimnetic species, and lake depth, lake area, and watershed area were positively related to the species richness of zooplankton communities. Among lakes with fish, deeper (maximum depth >8 m) lakes were characterized by greater species richness, higher abundances of a number of species including Daphnia pulex, Daphnia galeata mendotae, Daphnia dubia, and Diacyclops bicuspidatus thomasi, and lower abundances of Leptodiaptomus minutus, than shallower (maximum depth <8 m) lakes. Increased predation pressure by small fish species in smaller, shallower lakes probably influenced the observed species distributions. Lakes inferred to be fishless based on the presence of Chaoborus americanus typically had relatively high abundances of D. pulex, Diaphanosoma brachyurum, and Aglaodiaptomus leptopus, and absences of D. g. mendotae and D. birgei, patterns attributable to intense invertebrate predation on zooplankton.