Summary
This study describes seasonal variation in the numbers of planktonic organisms in relation to hydrological changes in a flood-controlled reservoir at Ibadan, Nigeria. Results of fortnightly estimations of water-level, temperature, transparency, and oxygen content have been presented. The reservoir is thermally stratified for most of the year but the periodic flooding following heavy rainfall and the occasional breakdown of the periodic flooding following heavy rainfall and the occasional breakdown of the thermal stratification by winds during the dry season dominate the habitat, causing regular seasonal fluctuation in plant nutrients and the transparency of the water.
Such effects have also been shown to exert an important influence directly on the zooplankton as well as on the phytoplankton. The highest plankton densities were recorded during periods of maximum water level and the lowest during the beginning of the filling process. Some evidence suggests that the zooplankton feeds directly on bacteria-rich detritus and that the phytoplankton probably plays an insignificant part as food source for the zooplankton. The phytoplankton may be controlled primarily by the limitation and decline of plant nutrients from the reservoir bed.
Résumé
Etude concernant les variations de la quantité de plancton en rapport avec les changements de l'eau dans un reservoir a Ibadan (Nigéria). Les résultats des mensurations bimensuelles du niveau de l'eau, de sa température et de sa transparence ont été étudiés. L'auteur a fait une stratification thermale pour une grande partie de l'année, mais l'inondation périodique qui suit chaque grande précipitation ainsi que la perturbation occasionelle de la stratification thermale efectuée par les vents pendant la saison sèche, dominent le milieu et occasionnent des variations régulières dans la quantité des plantes nutritives et dans la transparence de l'eau.
Ces phénomènes ont une grande influence directe sur le zooplancton aussi bien que sur le phytoplancton. Les densités les plus considérables de plancton sont enrégistrées pendant la saison où le niveau de l'eau est au maximum et les plus basses au début de la saison d'inondation. Les résultats montrent que le zooplancton se nourrit du détritus très riche en bactéries et que le phytoplancton ne joue qu'un rôle insignifiant comme source de nourriture pour le zooplancton. On peut d'ordinaire contrôler le phytoplancton par la limitation et la diminution des plantes nutritives dan le lit du réservoir.
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This is part of the material present for a Ph.D. Thesis of the University of London.
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Imevbore, A.M.A. Hydrology and Plankton of Eleiyele Reservoir Ibadan, Nigeria. Hydrobiologia 30, 154–176 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00135017
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00135017