6th Annual Judith Ramaley Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship
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Poster #95 Zooplankton Community Dynamics Across a Large River Mosaic
Jarrod R. Sackreiter
Faculty Mentors: Michael D. Delong and William B. Richardson
A wide range of biotic and abiotic factors have the potential to influence zooplankton community structure within the patch mosaic of a river. An especially important driver of zooplankton communities are hydrological patterns, which create spatial and temporal differences in zooplankton community composition. The objective of this study was to identify factors that regulate community structure of crustacean and rotifer zooplankton in different hydrogeomorphic patches of the Upper Mississippi River. Samples were taken of planktonic rotifers and crustaceans in May – September of 2009, 2010, and 2011. Rotifers were collected by passing 8-L of water through a 38 -µm sieve. Crustacean samples were collected with vertical tows using a 64-µm mesh plankton net. Zooplankton community composistion was similar across patch types when discharge increased or decreased markedly in the 7 – 14 d prior to sampling. In contrast, abundance of crustacean zooplankton, including predaceous species, increased whereas the number of rotifer species declined. Zooplankton densities were generally highest in areas with a low potential for water inputs from channels. The results of this study suggest that hydrologic factors and patch character influence abundance and types of zooplankton in a large river. |
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