Abstract
Modern methodological approaches were applied to analyze the zooplankton community spatial distribution (with the example of the middle river part of the Cheboksary Reservoir). Zooplankton communities were sampled in the middle river part of the Cheboksary Reservoir (from the city of Nizhny Novgorod to Vasilsursk town) in the summer low-water period in 2018. The boundaries between the communities in the Cheboksary Reservoir were gradually changing during the history of the Cheboksary Reservoir from the time of its construction to present. In the middle river part of the Cheboksary Reservoir there are two distinct spatially stable zooplankton communities associated to the Oka and Volga streams. The distinction between these two zooplankton communities was demonstrated by hierarchical cluster analysis. Redundancy analysis has shown that chlorophyll- a and pH were the main factors influencing the specific zooplankton structure. Chlorophyll- a concentration reflects the meso-scale heterogeneity of the horizontal phytoplankton distribution and hence the distribution of the zooplankton’s food sources. The relation of zooplankton to pH level reflects the high sensitivity of the species of the genus Brachionus Pallas, 1766 to high acidity. The influence of pH as an environmental factor was less evident. However, this variable is well known as one of the leading factors determining the structure of zooplankton communities. Its role in zooplankton community assembly of lowland reservoirs deserves further investigation.
Highlights
There is a great interest in the problem of identification of spatial distribution of zooplankton communities and assembly of their species structure under the impact of various natural and anthropogenic factors (Leitao et al, 2006; Sokolova, 2012; Bolotov et al, 2013; Lazareva, Sokolova, 2015; Presnova, Khulapova, 2015; Joniak, KuczynskaKippen, 2016; Shurganova et al, 2018)
97 zooplankton species were identified in the middle river part of Cheboksary Reservoir: 46 Rotifera species (47%), 37 Cladocera species (38%) and 13 Copepoda species (15%)
We applied modern multivariate techniques and showed that in the middle river part of the Cheboksary Reservoir there are two distinct spatially stable zooplankton communities associated to Oka and Volga streams
Summary
There is a great interest in the problem of identification of spatial distribution of zooplankton communities and assembly of their species structure under the impact of various natural and anthropogenic factors (Leitao et al, 2006; Sokolova, 2012; Bolotov et al, 2013; Lazareva, Sokolova, 2015; Presnova, Khulapova, 2015; Joniak, KuczynskaKippen, 2016; Shurganova et al, 2018). The dynamics of spatial distribution of zooplankton communities during long-term succession and changes of influence of various environmental factors is of particular interest in hydroecology (Shurganova, 2007). That’s why the study of the dynamics of the spatial structure of hydrobiocenoses and evaluation of the impact of environmental factors on their assembly and functioning at the modern successional stage is an actual task
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