Rainfall events and downstream drift of microcrustacean zooplankton in a Newfoundland boreal stream

Abstract

While rainfall events may lead to flushing of zooplankton from lakes, with implications for stream productivity near lake outlets, consideration also needs to be given to zooplankton transported farther downstream. To evaluate such downstream transport, daytime invertebrate drift, stream discharge, and rainfall events were monitored over 4 summers in Cook's Brook, Newfoundland, at a downstream site 1.0 km below the outlet of Big Cook's Pond and an upstream site 1.0 km upstream of the pond. Microcrustacean zooplankton were abundant in some downstream samples; high percent zooplankton abundance (87–94%) corresponded to the highest total invertebrate drift densities. Percent zooplankton in downstream drift was strongly correlated with recent rainfall (rS = 0.815, p = 0.025) and stream discharge (rS = 0.964, p = 0.001). The majority of microcrustaceans in the drift were planktonic cladocerans and copepods, the species composition being similar to that in Big Cook's Pond. No zooplankton were ever collected from the upstream site. Ephemeroptera, Diptera, Trichoptera, and Ostracoda were abundant in most drift samples. Zooplankton drift (mean = 0.17 individuals/m3) in Cook's Brook appears to be catastrophic drift, with high precipitation rates and resultant increased flushing rate in Big Cook's Pond leading to "washout" of microcrustaceans 1 km downstream.