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Hydrodynamic variability and nutrient status structuring the mesozooplankton community of the estuaries along the west coast of India

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Abstract

The influence of distinct tidal characteristics and nutrient status on mesozooplankton community was studied in six major estuaries along the west coast of India during the late-monsoon (MS) and post-monsoon (PM) periods. The macro-tidal estuaries in the north (Amba and Thane) exhibited higher nutrient concentration compared to the micro- and meso-tidal estuaries located in the south (Cochin and Nethravati) and central (Zuari and Mandovi) west coast of India. The markedly higher nitrate and phosphate levels in the macro-tidal estuaries during PM indicated anthropogenic contributions from domestic and industrial effluents, which significantly impacted the mesozooplankton community structure. Nutrient enrichments favored higher phytoplankton standing stock leading to low DO levels. In the micro- and meso-tidal estuaries, meso- and euryhaline copepods dominated whereas in the macro-tidal estuaries, the copepod community was dominated by euryhaline and coastal species. Furthermore, the high-saline eutrophic environment of macro-tidal estuaries formed congenial for the increased jellyfish preponderance during PM. The predation pressure exerted by the jellyfish population on the crustacean zooplankton and ichthyoplankton exerted an adverse impact on the potential fishery stock in the macro-tidal estuaries. Thus, the study reveals that the nutrient enrichment favoring a shift in the mesozooplankton community structure from nutritionally superior crustacean plankton to less desirable jellyfishes, which in turn, may lead to a threat on the estuarine pelagic energy transfer and ecosystem deliverables.

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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India for the support of this study. We are grateful to Dr. Gupta GVM, Director, Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE), for his guidance towards the completion of the work. We are thankful to Dr. Vineetha G, CMFRI, Kochi, for her kind help in the identification of Copepoda. We extend our gratitude to Thasneem N, KUFOS, Kochi, for her help in the analysis of samples. This work is an output of the MEDAS project of CMLRE and funded by Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. This is CMLRE contribution no 136.

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This work funded by Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.

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  1. Centre for Marine Living Resources & Ecology, Kochi, 682508, India

    Kusum Komal Karati, Chettiparambil Raghavan Ashadevi, Naroju Veera Harikrishnachari & Sudheesh Valliyodan

  2. National Centre for Coastal Research, Chennai, 600100, India

    Munnooru Kumaraswami, Sura Appala Naidu & Mallavarapu Venkata Ramanamurthy

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  1. Kusum Komal Karati
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Kusum Komal Karati, Naroju Veera Harikrishnachari, Sudheesh Valliyodan, Munnooru Kumaraswami, and Sura Appala Naidu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Kusum Komal Karati and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Karati, K.K., Ashadevi, C.R., Harikrishnachari, N.V. et al. Hydrodynamic variability and nutrient status structuring the mesozooplankton community of the estuaries along the west coast of India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 42477–42495 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13634-x

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