The distribution of zooplankton in the Sanyati Bay,Lake Kariba; A multivariate analysis

A principal component and discriminant function analysis of zooplankton from the Sanyati Bay, Lake Kariba, indicated that the distribution of plankton was associated with the riverine in-flow into the lake.     

Ecology and role of zooplankton in the fishery of Lake Naivasha

Taxonomic composition, distribution, community structure and seasonality of Lake Naivasha zooplankton between 1978 and 1980 are described. The ecological status of the zooplankton in relation to prevailing ecological factors and the lakes fishery are discussed. Species composition of the zooplankton community in Lake Naivasha has been remarkably constant since first observations between 1929 and 1931. The community structure and distribution of the zooplankton in the lake varied little from July 1978 to July 1980, however, there was evidence of species succession among the larger zooplankters, especially the cladocerans. In the littoral area zooplankton contribute significantly to the food and production of juvenile fish. There is an absence of fish zooplanktivores in the limnetic area of the lake. Consequently the limnetic zooplankton is not utilised by higher trophic levels.     

Synopsis of scientific results of the sarec sponsored project on the ecology of Lake Kariba

A summary of current research on Lake Kariba is given. Lake Kariba is now a phosphorus limited oligotrophic lake, dependent on annual nutrient input for the maintenance of production. Nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria has become an important source of nitrogen in the dry season and that fish harvesting is an important phosphorus sink. An up to date plankton composition list has been produced and plankton biomass determined. Diving studies indicate large biomass of bivalves. The aquatic vegetation displays both longitudinal as well as depth gradients, related to light regimes. Only preliminary data are available on mud/water interactions, but the available data indicate considerable fluxes in the river mouth stations and shallow protected littoral areas. The role of predatory birds and crocodiles in the fishery economy of the lake is evaluated and indicates no major conflict between these predators and human fishing interests. The research also draws attention to pesticides in Lake Kariba as indicated by work on fish eating birds and crocodile research. Since the publication of ‘Lake Kariba’ by Balon & Coche (1975) the research project, THE ECOLOGY OF LAKE KARIBA, being undertaken by the University Lake Kariba Research Station constitutes the first multidisciplinary study of the lake, 30 years after the Zambezi river was impounded at Kariba Gorge. It could have offered a unique opportunity of comparing the lake now with what it was soon after impoundment.     

The distribution of fish of riverine origin in relation to the limnological characteristics of the five basins of Lake Kariba

The limnological characteristics of Lake Kariba are briefly described. Any change in the physico-chemical nature of the lake waters naturally implies that the environment for fish is also changed. Dispersal of fish species according to conditions existing in the five basins of the lake is dictated by the marked graduation from fluviatile to partly lacustrine, to lacustrine conditions, when passing from Basin 1 through to Basin 5. The fish in Kariba are of Middle Zambezi River stock and as a consequence those showing strong ties with the riverine habitat, particularly in relation to spawning requirements, have orientated towards affluent rivers, or areas influenced by rivers. The Cichlids have adapted to the lacustrine conditions. Evidence of these trends in distribution have been extrapolated from commercial landings.     

The ecology of ruffe,Gymnocephalus cernuus (Pisces: Percidae) introduced to Mildevatn,western Norway

Synopsis Diet, habitat use, diel and seasonal activity and a number of population parameters were studied on ruffe,Gymnocephalus cernuus, introduced to Mildevatn, western Norway. This lake is sited outside the natural range of the ruffe and has a lower fish diversity and a different fish species composition than within its native range. From June through September the ruffe was planktivorous and mainly caught at 4 to 6 m depth in the benthic zone. At other times of year ruffe was feeding on zoobenthos and caught deeper in the benthic zone. Ruffe was mainly day active. Zooplankton feeding during summer is the clearest difference compared to ruffe populations living within its natural range. Presence of large zooplankton organisms available for ruffe is suggested as the main reason for the difference found in food choice. The availability of large zooplankton is probably due to community structure caused by a predator and lack of interspecific competition for zooplankton in the deeper parts of the lake. Piscivorous brown trout.Salmo trutta, restrict the habitat of threespined stickleback,Gasterosteus aculeatus, to the zone of littoral vegetation, allowing high densities of larger zooplankton species likeBythotrephes longimanus to be present in the lake. Brown trout is present only in the upper light and well oxygenated parts of the lake, leaving a refuge for the ruffe, where they can feed on the rich zooplankton community.     

Ecological impact of introduced fish in high altitude lakes: a case of study from the European Alps

Fish introduction is a major threat to alpine lake biota leading to the loss of native species and to the degeneration of natural food-webs. This study provides an extensive investigation on the impact of the introduced fish Salvelinus fontinalis on the native communities of alpine lakes in the Gran Paradiso National Park. We compared the macroinvertebrate and zooplankton communities of six stocked and nine fishless lakes with a repeated sampling approach during the summers 2006–2009. The impact of fish presence on alpine lake fauna is often mediated by the strong seasonality governing these ecosystems, and it dramatically affects the faunal assemblage of littoral macroinvertebrates and the size, structure, and composition of the pelagic zooplankton community with a strong selective predation of the more visible taxa. Direct ecological impacts include a decrease or extinction of non-burrower macroinvertebrates and of large zooplankton species, while small zooplankton species and burrower macroinvertebrates were indirectly advantaged by fish presence. Due to the existence of a compensation between rotifers and crustaceans, fish presence does not affect total zooplankton biomass and diversity even if fish are a factor of ecological exclusion for large crustaceans. These compensatory mechanisms are a key process surrounding the impact of introduced fish in alpine lakes.     

Variation in spatial and temporal gradients in zooplankton spring development: the effect of climatic factors

1. We examined the temporal and spatial heterogeneity of zooplankton in lake surface waters during the spring of 3 years in Lake Washington, U.S.A., a large lake with a high production of sockeye salmon fry. 2. We show large within‐season and among‐year variation in the horizontal distribution of temperature, chlorophyll a concentration, and zooplankton in the lake. The main pattern, a delay in zooplankton population increase from the north‐ to the south‐end of the lake, recurred in each year and was persistent within each spring. 3. The delay is primarily caused by the development of a temperature gradient during spring warming, as cold mountain water enters the south end of the lake, while warm water enters the north end via a river draining a nearby lake. Climate factors, such as air temperature and precipitation during winter and spring, appear to influence the extent of the delay of zooplankton increase. 4. If the climate continues to warm, the temporal disconnection in zooplankton development between lake areas immediately influenced by cold river inflow and areas that are influenced by spring warming may increase in magnitude. Thus, the different areas of the lake may not contribute equally to fish production.     

Spatial and temporal variations in the composition and density of crustacean plankton in the five basins of Lake Kariba, Zambia-Zimbabwe

Lake Kariba is a man-made reservoir which is now over 30 yearsold. The reservoir was built on the Zambezi river on the borderbetween Zambia and Zimbabwe. The crustacean zooplankton of thisman-made lake were studied over 3 years from March 1986 to February1988. This period included three seasons — (i) warm, rainyseason, (ii) cool, dry season and (iii) warm, dry season —which have a major influence on the limnology of the lake. Crustaceanplankton species composition and abundance varied among thefive basins. The most upstream basin had the highest numberof species and highest densities at all the sampling times overthe period of this study. There was both spatial and temporalheterogeneity in species composition and abundance along thelong axis of the lake. ¹Present address: Department of Biological Science, Universityof Botswana, P. Bag 0022, Gaborone, Botswana     

湖滨带生态退化现状、原因分析及对策

湖滨带是湖泊的一道天然保护屏障,是健全的湖泊生态系统不可缺少的有机组成部分。总结了中国湖滨带存在的主要问题,包括高等水生植物衰减、水质富营养化、浮游藻类浓度增高、底栖动物耐污种类优势度增加、鱼类种群数量减少、陆地生物栖息地破坏等,并分析了退化原因,主要是人为因素的干扰,包括湖滨大规模的围湖造田、围网养殖的迅猛发展、水利工程的不合理修建、点面源的严重污染等,针对上述存在的现状和原因,提出了湖滨带生态修复的对策及建议。     

Growth and mortality of the introduced Lake Tanganyika clupeid, Limnothrissa miodon, in Lake Kariba

The growth and mortality of the small clupeid fish Limnothrissa miodon were studied in Lake Kariba, a large, man-made lake in central Africa. Growth could be described by the von Bertalanffy equation l_t = 74.2 (1—e^{−0.254( t +0.07)}) where length ( l ) is expressed in millimetres and time ( t ) in months. The monthly rates of mortality were high and increasing under intensive fishing; in 1983 the total mortality rate Z =1.15 and natural mortality M =0.7. Limnothrissa appears to be stunted in the man-made lakes where it occurs (Kariba and Cahora Bassa) where it grows at a faster rate but to a smaller size than it does in natural lakes (Kivu and Tanganyika). Various hypotheses to account for this are discussed and it was concluded that this is an adaptation to the relatively unstable conditions found in the man-made lakes.     

Predators, resources, and trophic chains in the regulation of plankton population and biomass in oligothrophic lakes

The relative strength of "top-down" versus "bottom-up" control of plankton community structure and biomass in two small oligotrophic lakes (with and without fish), located near the Polar circle (Russia), has been investigated for two years, 1996 and 1997. The comparative analyses of zooplankton biomass and species abundance showed strong negative effect of fish, stickeback (Pungitius pungitius L.), on the zooplankton community species, size structure and biomass of particular prey species but no effect on the biomass of the whole trophic level. An intensive predation in Verkhneye lake has lead to: 1) sixfold decline in biomass of large cladoceran Holopedium gibberum comparing to the lake lacking predator, 2) shift in the size mode in zooplankton community and the replacement of the typical large grazers by small species--Bosmina longirostris and rotifers. Their abundance and biomass even increased, demonstrating the stimulating effect of fish on the "inefficient" and unprofitable prey organisms. The analysis of contributions of different factors into the cladoceran's birth rate changes was applied to demonstrate the relative impact of predators and resources on zooplankton abundance. An occasional introduction of the stickleback to Vodoprovodnoye lake (the reference lake in 1996) in summer 1997 lead to drastic canges in this ecosystem: devastating decrease of zooplankton biomass and complete elimination of five previously dominant grazer species. The abundance of edible phytoplankton was slightly higher in the lake with fish in 1996 and considerably higher in the lake where fish has appeared in 1997 showing the prevailing "top-down" control of phytoplankton in oligotrophic ecosystem. The reasons of trophic cascade appearance in oligotrophic lakes are also discussed.     

Zooplankton in a quasi-stable phase in an endorheic lake (Lake Chilwa,Malawi)

Lake Chilwa, a fairly large, turbid, brackish and very shallow endorheic lake in Malawi, Central Africa, dried up completely in 1968 and filled up again in the following wet season. Compared with the zooplankton in the drying, filling and post-filling phases (1966–1971), differences in their composition, density, distribution and reproduction were found in 1975–1976, a year when the lake was 1–2 metres deeper. This situation is discussed in relation to environmental factors, fish predation and the supply of detritus from the surrounding Typha swamp, to illustrate the relative stability of the zooplankton populations in periods between lake recessions.University of Malawi     

Simultaneous patterns of temperature, oxygen, zooplankton and fish distribution in Lake Kinneret, Israel

1. Temperature, oxygen concentration and zooplankton density were measured simultaneously on 25 December 1990 at twenty-six stations during an acoustic survey of the fish population of Lake Kinneret, Israel. Data from a preliminary acoustic survey were used to establish the optimal distance between transects (4km). 2. The distribution of temperature and oxygen concentration (and their gradients), and zooplankton and fish densities were compared using three-dimensional plots and correlation analysis. Both fish and zooplankton were concentrated in frontal zones where temperature and oxygen gradients were highest. 3. In the south-eastern part of the lake, where fish abundance was highest, a minimum of zooplankton density was observed, suggesting that predation by fish reduced zooplankton concentrations.     

Abundance and distribution of inshore fish in fished and protected areas in Lake Kariba,Zimbabwe

Abundance and size distribution of inshore fish populations was assessed by fishing with standard Lundgren survey gill-nets in areas open to fishing and reserved areas that are protected from fishing activities.The direct gradient analysis technique — Detrended Canonical Correspondence Analysis — revealed that fish abundance and their composition in Lake Kariba are strongly structured by lake morphometry.The comparison between fished and reserve areas showed that there was a significant reduction in mean length of commercially fished species in the fished areas and the size distribution curves were skewed, lacking small and large length classes. There was a higher abundance of non-commercial species in the fished areas. It was also revealed that the mochokid Synodontis zambezensis Peters 1852, was the most abundant species and was present at all depths sampled in all the stations.There were indications that non-commercial species were important in terms of abundance in the fished areas. These included S. zambezenzis, Schilbe intermedius (Ruppell, 1832) and other smaller species. This was attributed to them being selected against in the gill-nets.     

Differences in growth of perch (Perca fluviatilis L.) in two small forest lakes

Growth patterns and food composition of perch, Perca fluviatilis L., was studied in two small forest lake populations in southern Finland. Size and morphometry of the lakes and physical and chemical properties of water are similar. There is a clear difference in the growth rates of perch between the two lakes. The difference in growth is highly significant in all age groups. In the first lake there is a perch population of 2 000 (1750 ind · ha^–1) adult fishes. In the second lake there is a small population of pike, that keeps the perch population down: 200 adult perch (530 ind · ha^-1). The main food items of perch are crustacean zooplankton, Asellus aquaticus L. and Trichoptera larvae in the first lake and zooplankton, Odonata larvae, Ephemeroptera larvae and Heteroptera in the second.It is concluded that the main reason for the growth difference of studied perch populations is the different population density. There are also differences in species composition of bottom fauna of the lakes, maybe owing to the floating Sphagnum peat moss vegetation in the second lake. This can also affect the growth difference between the two populations of perch.     

Trophic relationships in the pelagic zone of Mondsee,Austria

Data are presented on nutrient concentrations, phytoplankton biovolume development, zooplankton composition and population dynamics, and fish from a deep, stratifying, alpine lake (Mondsee, Austria) during a three-year period between 1982 and 1984. Development of the phytoplankton is closely related to structuring events of the physico-chemical environment. Dissolved silicate and phosphorus concentrations are critical for the summer situation. During summer algal abundance is largely affected by grazing of zooplankton, but no clear-water phase was observed at the end of the spring peak of phytoplankton.Temperature and food are factors responsible for the timing and growth of the zooplankton populations. Because of close overlap in the epilimnion, exploitative and mechanical interference competition and predation by invertebrate and vertebrate predators are the main structuring forces acting on the zooplankton community, and hence influence phytoplankton indirectly.     

Small lake plankton and its essential polyunsaturated fatty acids content as affected by a colony of the common heron (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ardea cinerea</Emphasis> L.)

It is shown that in the area inhabited by a colony of the common heron in a high-trophic shallow lake a number of structure parameters of plankton undergoes changes similar to those observed at anthropogenic eutrophication and indicating an increase in biogenic and organic load. At the same time a number of changes is revealed that are usually not registered when human influence increases. The composition and content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in seston and zooplankton show that diatoms and detritus of land genesis play relatively smaller role in the zooplankton nutrition in the lake area influenced by the birds. The zooplankton developing in this zone is a better food rich in essential docosahexaenoic acid necessary for the growth and development of the fish.     

Top-down or Bottom-up Effects by Fish: Issues of Concern in Biomanipulation of Lakes

A large-scale biomanipulation trial was carried out on Lake Vesijärvi in Finland during 1989–1993. Following the mass removal of coarse fish the biomass of cyanobacteria collapsed from 1.4 g/m^?3 to below 0.4 g/m^?3, while total phosphorus concentration declined from 45 μ g/L to 30 μ g/L. No relevant changes in zooplankton communities were observed. The results suggest that the success of food web manipulation as a tool for lake restoration is not necessarily dependent on the grazing rate of zooplankton. The effects of reduced fish-mediated internal loading and recycling of nutrients are in many cases stronger than those of reduced planktivory. Alternative stable states of water quality may also exist in lakes not covered by macrophytes, owing to the changes in the behavior of fish stocks. Year-to-year variation in the littoral zone may cause large oscillations in lake ecosystems—for example, through the recruitment of fish. In addition, the nutrients translocated by fish from the littoral zone may affect the nutrient dynamics of the pelagial plankton community. In terms of phytoplankton species composition and the ratio of phosphorus to chlorophyll a, the water quality in Lake Vesijärvi has improved in a stepwise fashion within the last 10 years. This is probably due to the fact that the five-year mass removal of fish in Enonselkä fulfilled the requirement of sustained management of fish stocks in order to maintain nonequilibrial conditions between alternate stable states. The prediction of the water quality development is obscured, however, by spatial and temporal within-lake variation, which sets high requirements for sampling programs.     

Interactions between zooplankton and fish in a fertilized lake

The effects of fish predation on the zooplankton community in an oligotrophic lake, Langvatn, near Trondheim in Central Norway, were investigated during a six-year period (1973–1978), together with the added effects of changes produced by adding artificial fertilizer in 1975 and 1976. The improved nutrient conditions in 1975 resulted in a rapid increase in biomass and production of the largest herbivore zooplankton species and of the fish population. A change in the behaviour and food habits of the arctic char was recorded; they became more pelagic and fed mainly on zooplankton. An increased survival rate of 0-group and biomass of planktivorous fish in 1975 enhanced the degree of fish predation on the zooplankton during subsequent years (1976–1978). As a consequence of fish predation, the composition of the zooplankton changed, from a mainly large-sized to a mainly small-sized community, dominated by Bosmina longirostris and rotifers. Since fish predation is size-selective and visibility-dependent, it induced a decrease in mean size and in body length at onset of maturity of the cladoceran populations and probably also weakened their ability to produce resting eggs.     

Stable isotope evidence of ontogenetic changes in the diet of gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum

Stable sulphur isotopic composition (δ³⁴S) of gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum was used to investigate the seasonal and ontogenetic variation in the diet of young and adult fish. This study evaluated fish from a hypereutrophic lake that had recently undergone a 40% reduction of large (>300 mm total length, L _T) D. cepedianum biomass as part of a biomanipulation experiment, which aimed at reducing internal nutrient loading. Dorosoma cepedianum δ³⁴S values showed evidence of ontogenetic changes with young fish (<200 mm L _T) depending more on benthic food sources than adults (>200 mm L _T). The δ³⁴S composition of the adult fish suggested an increasing importance of zooplankton in the diet, although benthic food sources remained part of the diet of all D. cepedianum collected in this study. The results indicated that benthic feeding is used by D. cepedianum of all sizes, suggesting that biomanipulation efforts may need to target all sizes of fish to realize benefits.