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Size-dependent responses of zooplankton to submerged macrophyte restoration in a subtropical shallow lake

  • Ecology
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Abstract

To explore the size-dependent responses of zooplankton to submerged macrophyte restoration, we collected macrophyte, zooplankton and water quality samples seasonally from a subtropical shallow lake from 2010 to 2012. Special attention was given to changes in rotifers and crustaceans (cladocerans and copepods). The rotifers were grouped into three size classes (<200 μm, 200 μm–400 μm, >400 μm) to explore their size-related responses to macrophyte restoration. The results showed that during the restoration, the annual mean biomass and macrophyte coverage increased significantly from 0 to 637 g/m2 and 0 to 27%, respectively. In response, the density and biomass of crustaceans and the crustacean-to-rotifer ratio increased significantly, while the rotifer density decreased significantly. Moreover, rotifers showed significant sizedependent responses to macrophyte restoration. Specially, rotifers <400 μm were significantly suppressed, while those ≥400 μm were significantly encouraged. Overall, the population of large-sized zooplankton tended to boom, while that of small rotifers was inhibited during macrophyte restoration. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed positive correlations between macrophytes and crustaceans, rotifers and COD or Chl-a, but negative correlations between macrophytes and COD or Chl-a, and between crustaceans and Chl-a. Moreover, the results indicate that increased predation on phytoplankton by large-sized zooplankton might be an important mechanism for macrophyte restoration during development of aquatic ecosystems, and that this mechanism played a very important role in promoting the formation of a clear-water state in subtropical shallow lakes.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Prof. QIU Dongru and Dr. WANG Yafen for their valuable comments and advice. Thanks are also given to other laboratory colleagues for field and laboratory work assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Lei Zeng  (曾磊), Feng He  (贺锋), Yi Zhang  (张义), Biyun Liu  (刘碧云), Zhigang Dai  (代志刚), Qiaohong Zhou  (周巧红) & Zhenbin Wu  (吴振斌)

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lei Zeng  (曾磊)

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  1. Lei Zeng  (曾磊)
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  2. Feng He  (贺锋)
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  3. Yi Zhang  (张义)
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  4. Biyun Liu  (刘碧云)
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  5. Zhigang Dai  (代志刚)
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  6. Qiaohong Zhou  (周巧红)
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  7. Zhenbin Wu  (吴振斌)
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Correspondence to Qiaohong Zhou  (周巧红).

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Supported by the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment of China 12th Five-Year Plan (No. 2012ZX07101007-005) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51178452, 51208498, 51308530)

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Zeng, L., He, F., Zhang, Y. et al. Size-dependent responses of zooplankton to submerged macrophyte restoration in a subtropical shallow lake. J. Ocean. Limnol. 36, 376–384 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-018-6192-z

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