Zooplankton of two arms in the Morava River floodplain in Slovakia

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The species composition, seasonal dynamic of biomass and density of zooplankton were studied in two arms with a different hydrological regime. The samples were collected in two hydrologically different years — extremely wet in 2002 and extremely dry in 2003. In the first arm the mean annual chlorophyll-a concentration was 31.6 µg L−1 (2002) and relatively high 64.7 µg L−1 during 2003. Mean seasonal zooplankton wet biomass was low and varied: 11.6 g m−3 (2002) and 2.93 g m−3 (2003). Total zooplankton density was high (7,370 N L−1) in 2002, when rotifers predominated in an open water zone and contributed up to 81% of the total zooplankton biomass and 83% of the total zooplankton density. In medial and littoral zone, in total, 22 cladoceran and 15 copepod species were identified. In the second arm the mean annual concentration of chlorophyll-a was high: 74.8 µg L−1 (2002) and 61.4 µg L−1 (2003). Mean seasonal zooplankton wet biomass varied from 92.5 g m−3 (2002) and 44.10 g m−3 (2003). In 2002 the planktonic crustaceans predominated; their mean biomass was 87.1 g m−3 and B. longirostris formed more than 91% of this value. In 2003, the zooplankton density was high (15,687 N L−1), when rotifers contributed up to 94% of this value. The boom of rotifers (58,740 N L−1) was recorded in June 2003. In total, 45 cladoceran and 14 copepod species were recorded in the medial and littoral zones. During observation we concluded that the structure of zooplankton, particularly species composition, abundance, biomass and seasonal dynamics are affected by the fluctuation of water levels in the arms of the rivers’ inundation areas. This unstable hydrological regime prevented the development of planktonic crustaceans.