Structure distinctions of pelagic rotifer plankton in stratified lakes with different human impact

Abstract

Pelagic rotifer plankton was studied in four stratified lakes with different degrees of human impact from June to July 2001 and throughout 2002. Rotifer species diversity was closely correlated to temperature and oxygen concentration (correlation coefficients were 0.90 and 0.87, respectively) in the water column of the hypertrophic Lake Kruglik. In the mesotrophic lakes, the correlation coefficients were much lower and their reduction was related to decreasing human impact on the lakes. Species richness was similar in Lakes Kruglik and S. Volos, but the spatial structure of the community differed greatly. The maximum rotifer density was observed in the epilimnion of Lake Kruglik, with densities dropping sharply towards the hypolimnion. In the mesotrophic lakes, the highest rotifer density was recorded in the meta- and hypolimnion. A comparative analysis of the morphometric characteristics of Keratella cochlearis showed that (1) the lorica length of ovigerous females increased in all four lakes with decreasing temperature; (2) the shortest lorica length was in Lake Kruglik at the same temperature; (3) in the mesotrophic lakes a significant increase in lorica length occurred as the temperature decreased from 14.2 °C to 4.2 °C. There is the similar relationship in rotifers of the genus Filinia. Hypoxia in the clino- and hypolimnion of Lake Kruglik reduced the diversity of spatial niches created by thermal stratification. As a result, the number of non-overlapping niches for rotifers in Lake Kruglik is reduced by a factor of 2–5 compared to that in mesotrophic lakes, but the mean value of the overlapping index is significantly higher.