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Influence of hydrophyte abundance on the spatial distribution of zooplankton in selected lakes in Greece

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An Erratum to this article was published on 12 January 2017

Abstract

Submerged hydrophyte vegetation consists of a highly important biotic component of maintaining lake ecosystems towards a “clear water” ecological status. Aquatic macrophytes are well known to play a significant multidimensional role in lakes by competing with phytoplankton growth, stabilising sediment and offering refuge to fishes, macro-invertebrates and littoral zooplankton, amongst others. Zooplanktons that are associated with macrophyte beds, in particular, may act as a positive feedback mechanism that contributes to maintaining a clear-water state. Although there are several studies investigating the relationships between macrophytes and zooplankton in European lakes, few have yet been carried out in Greek lakes. Seasonal field sampling was conducted from spring 2006 to autumn 2008 in four lakes of northwestern Greece. Zooplankton samples were collected from within hydrophyte beds in each lake to estimate their relative abundance and species density. Hydrophyte abundance and composition was recorded on a five-point scale. Moreover, water samples were analysed to determine nutrient and chlorophyll-a concentration. Pearson correlations between zooplankton density and key physicochemical variables were conducted to distinguish significant abiotic variables related with major zooplankton groups. Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric analysis was used to test for significant differences in zooplankton composition and environmental variables amongst the five hydrophyte abundance classes. In addition, Canonical correspondence analysis was used to distinguish possible correlations amongst the macrophyte and zooplankton species. Zooplankton density was significantly higher in dense macrophyte vegetation. Small-sized species (e.g. Rotifera) dominated the zooplankton community, indicating the eutrophic nature of the lakes. Large Cladocera were present in low abundance and were mostly littoral. The current research contributes to a better understanding of relationships between biotic groups in selected Greek lakes.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by grants from the State Scholarships Foundation Research of Greek Ministry of Education. We wish to thank Dr. Natalia Kuczyńska-Kippen, (The University of Adam Mickiewicz, Poland) for his invaluable guidance and counsel on assessing and identifying zooplankton samples, as well as Anna Basińska and Kasper Świdnicki for their valuable advices regarding the identification of zooplankton species. We are also grateful to Prof. Dr Arnold Pieterse and two anonymous referees for their helpful and valuable suggestions on the earlier version of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Patras, 26500, Patras, Greece

    K. Stefanidis & E. Papastergiadou

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  1. K. Stefanidis
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  2. E. Papastergiadou
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Correspondence to K. Stefanidis.

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Guest editors: A. Pieterse, S. Hellsten, J. Newman, J. Caffrey, F. Ecke, T. Ferreira, B. Gopal, J. Haury, G. Janauer, T. Kairesalo, A. Kanninen, K. Karttunen, J. Sarvala, K. Szoszkiewicz, H. Toivonen, L. Triest, P. Uotila, N. Willby / Aquatic Invasions and Relation to Environmental Changes: Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Aquatic Weeds, European Weed Research Society

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3090-x.

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Stefanidis, K., Papastergiadou, E. Influence of hydrophyte abundance on the spatial distribution of zooplankton in selected lakes in Greece. Hydrobiologia 656, 55–65 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0435-0

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