Skip to main content
Log in

Longitudinal changes in zooplankton distribution below a reservoir outfall with reference to river planktivory

  • Research paper
  • Published:
Limnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The fate and interactions with river organisms of zooplankton as they drift downriver from a reservoir on a fourth-order mountain stream (Hiji River, Japan) were investigated. Monthly samples were collected at the reservoir and six river sites, simultaneously, from May 2005 to May 2006. Aquatic macroinvertebrates and fish were colleted, and their stomach contents were analyzed in April and May, 2006, respectively. Drift from the reservoir was the primary source for the river plankton community; the abundance of zooplankton, particularly those of cladocerans and large rotifer, rapidly decreased within several kilometers of the dam. Analysis of the contents of fish stomachs showed that drifting zooplankton was the main food for fish, with strong food selectivity for cladocerans and large rotifers. However, fish and insect planktivores showed longitudinally different stomach contents, with progressively fewer zooplankton found in the stomachs at the downriver sites. The results suggest that the outflow of zooplankton from the reservoir is an important food source for the downstream predators, especially fish, but the drift of zooplankton and consequent food availability for the predators at lower sites are strongly limited by concentrated fish predation just below the reservoir dam.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akopian MA, Garnier J, Pourriot R (1999) A large reservoir as a source of zooplankton for the river: structure of the populations and influence of fish predation. J Plankton Res 21:285–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage PD, Capper MH (1976) The numbers, biomass and transport downstream of micro-crustaceans and Hydra from Cow Green Reservoir (Upper Teesdale). Freshw Biol 6:425–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baranyi C, Hein T, Holarek C, Keckeis S, Schiemer F (2002) Zooplankton biomass and community structure in a Danube River floodplain system: effects of hydrology. Freshw Biol 47:473–482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basu BK, Pick FR (1996) Factors regulating phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass in temperate rivers. Limnol Oceanogr 41:1572–1577

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell CE (2002) Rainfall events and downstream drift of microcrustacean zooplankton in a Newfoundland boreal stream. Can J Zool 80:997–1003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang KH, Hwang SJ, Jang MH, Kim HW, Jeong KS, Joo GJ (2001) Effect of juvenile fish predation on the zooplankton community in the large regulated Nakdong River, South Korea. Korean J Limnol 34:310–318

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang KH, Nagata T, Hanazato T (2004) Direct and indirect impacts of predation by fish on the zooplankton community: an experimental analysis using tanks. Limnology 5:121–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chesson J (1978) Measuring preference in selective predation. Ecology 59:211–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KR, Warwick RM (2001) Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost BW, Bollens SM (1992) Variability of diel vertical migration in the marine planktonic copepod Pseudocalanus newmani in relation to its predators. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 49:1137–1141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garnier J, Billen G, Coste M (1995) Seasonal succession of diatoms and Chlorophyceae in the drainage network of the Seine River: observation and modeling. Limnol Oceanogr 40:750–765

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hassett RP, Cardinale B, Stabler LB, Elser JJ (1997) Ecological stoichiometry of N and P in pelagic ecosystems: comparison of lakes and oceans with emphasis on the zooplankton-phytoplankton interaction. Limnol Oceanogr 42:648–662

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lair N (2006) A review of regulation mechanisms of metazoan plankton in riverine ecosystems: aquatic habitat versus biota. River Res Appl 22:567–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLay C (1970) A theory concerning the distance traveled by animals entering the drift of a stream. J Fish Res Board Can 27:359–370

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakayama M, Fujikura R, Yoshida T (2002) Japanese experiences to enhance the World Commission on Dams guidelines. Hydrol Process 16:2091–2098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen D, Watson G, Petrie R (2005) Microfaunal communities in three lowland rivers under differing flow regimes. Hydrobiologia 543:101–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pace ML, Findlay SEG, Lints D (1992) Zooplankton in advective environments: the Hudson River community and a comparative analysis. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 49:1060–1069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polis GA, Anderson WB, Holt RD (1997) Toward an integration of landscape and food web ecology: the dynamics of spatially subsidized food webs. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 28:289–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson WB (1992) Microcrustacea in flowing water: experimental analysis of washout times and a field test. Freshw Biol 28:217–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandlund OT (1982) The drift of zooplankton and microzoobenthos in the river Strandaelva, western Norway. Hydrobiologia 94:33–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoeneck LJ, Williamson CE, Stoeckel ME (1990) Diel periodicity and selectivity in the feeding rate of the predatory copepod Mesocyclops edax. J Plankton Res 12:29–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorp JH, Casper AF (2003) Importance of biotic interactions in large rivers: an experiment with planktivorous fish, dreissenid mussels and zooplankton in the St Lawrence River. River Res Appl 19:265–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorp JH, Mantovani S (2005) Zooplankton of turbid and hydrologically dynamic prairie rivers. Freshw Biol 50:1474–1491

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viroux L (2002) Seasonal and longitudinal aspects of microcrustacean (Cladocera, Copepoda) dynamics in a lowland river. J Plankton Res 24:281–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walks DJ, Cyr H (2004) Movement of plankton through lake-stream systems. Freshw Biol 49:745–759

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshimura C, Omura T, Furumai H, Tockner K (2005) Present state of rivers and streams in Japan. River Res Appl 21:93–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank T. Ando, A. Kajimoto, N. Nishihara, W. Izumi, and the members of the Laboratory of Aquatic Food Web Dynamics for their invaluable help during field work and data analysis. We are also grateful to the staff at the Kanogawa Dam Office for their field support and hydrological data on the Kanogawa Reservoir. This research was partly supported by the G-COE program of Ehime University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kwang-Hyeon Chang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Chang, KH., Doi, H., Imai, H. et al. Longitudinal changes in zooplankton distribution below a reservoir outfall with reference to river planktivory. Limnology 9, 125–133 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-008-0244-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10201-008-0244-6

Keywords

Navigation