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

Natalia Kuczyńska-Kippen

doi:10.3390/w12030758

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.

Highlights

Shallow and small aquatic environments, whose functioning may differ from better recognized ecosystems of lakes, consist of many different types, which include typical ponds, and small ditches, relatively permanent standing or slow-flowing drainage canals, temporary pools, or puddles.Despite being prone to anthropogenic stress in the direct catchment area [1,2], ponds often create a refuge for diverse organisms [2]
The study ponds revealed a wide range of measured features in respect to the two groups of small water bodies, distinguished on the basis of human impact in the direct catchment area
Higher values for high human-impact ponds (HighHI) ponds were obtained for pH, oxygen saturation (OS), conductivity, and water surface overshading caused by pleustophytes and nymphaeids

Summary

Introduction

Despite being prone to anthropogenic stress in the direct catchment area [1,2], ponds often create a refuge for diverse organisms [2]. The structure of the community and diversity of aquatic organisms can reflect environmental conditions [3]. Due to the high susceptibility of zooplankton to changes in the environment, especially to human impact in the catchment area of aquatic systems, these animals are often used to determine a variety of environmental features [4,5]. I presume that it can identify anthropogenic activity, contributing to varying levels of human-induced stress in the direct catchment of a pond, in water bodies located within the agricultural landscape [8,9]

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Conclusion