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Horizontal distribution of pelagic crustacean zooplankton biomass and body size in contrasting habitat types in Lake Poyang, China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 26, pages 2270–2280 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

To evaluate the possible effects of habitat type on crustacean plankton (hereafter zooplankton) biomass and body size, a 5-year study (2011 to 2015) was conducted during wet seasons in three habitats in Lake Poyang, China. The lacustrine habitat with the most stable hydrologic regime had the highest zooplankton biomass coinciding with the highest phytoplankton biomass. The riverine habitat with the lowest Secchi depth overall had the largest zooplankton body size, but high zooplankton biomass only in high water level years. The seasonally inundated floodplain habitats had the lowest zooplankton biomass and the smallest individual body size, coinciding with the lowest phytoplankton biomass and the highest predation pressure, the latter indicated by a low zooplankton: phytoplankton biomass ratio (ZB:PB). Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that pelagic zooplankton assemblages were primarily influenced by phytoplankton biomass in lacustrine habitat, by advection and turbidity in riverine regions, and by predation pressure in seasonally inundated floodplain region. We conclude that the importance of bottom-up and top-down effects on zooplankton biomass and body size varied with habitat type in Lake Poyang.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our deep thanks to Anne Mette Poulsen from Aarhus University for editorial assistance.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 41671096) and the MARS project (Managing Aquatic ecosystems and water Resources under multiple Stress) funded under the 7th EU Framework Programme, Theme 6 (Environment including Climate Change), Contract No. 603378 (http://www.mars-project.eu).

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Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Baogui Liu, Jinfu Liu, Yuwei Chen & Xia Liu

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

    Baogui Liu & Jinfu Liu

  3. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Erik Jeppesen

  4. College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 200090, China

    Wei Zhang

Authors
  1. Baogui Liu
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  2. Jinfu Liu
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  3. Erik Jeppesen
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  4. Yuwei Chen
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  5. Xia Liu
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  6. Wei Zhang
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Correspondence to Yuwei Chen.

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Responsible editor: Thomas Hein

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Liu, B., Liu, J., Jeppesen, E. et al. Horizontal distribution of pelagic crustacean zooplankton biomass and body size in contrasting habitat types in Lake Poyang, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 2270–2280 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3658-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3658-7

Keywords

  • Crustacean assemblages
  • Lake Poyang
  • Bottom-up
  • Top-down
  • Hydrological regimes
  • Habitat type
  • Turbulence