Seven Years Study of the Seasonal Dynamics of Zooplankton Communities in a Large Subtropical Floodplain Ecosystem: A Test of the PEG Model

Baogui Liu, Jiayi Wu, Yang Hu, Guoxiang Wang and Yuwei Chen
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Baogui Liu: School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
Jiayi Wu: School of Environmental, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
Yang Hu: School of Environmental, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
Guoxiang Wang: School of Environmental, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
Yuwei Chen: Nanchang Institute of Technology, Nanchang 330099, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: Irregular hydrological events, according to a classic plankton ecology group (PEG) study, can generate major deviations from the standard PEG model. However, little is known about the function of hydrological factors in influencing the seasonal dynamics of plankton. We used multivariate and Partial Least Squares Path Modeling to analyze the seasonal variation in crustacean zooplankton and related environmental factors from winter 2009 to winter 2016 in Lake Poyang, the largest freshwater lake in China. We found a distinct seasonal pattern in zooplankton development, which deviated, in part, from the PEG model, as we found indications of (1) a weaker degree of food limitation in winter and spring, likely due to high concentrations of allochthonous sources caused by decomposition of seasonally flooded hygrophytes, also affecting sediment dynamics; (2) a peak in crustacean zooplankton biomass in summer when the water level was high (and predation was lower), and where horizontal transport of zooplankton from the littoral zone to the pelagic was possibleand (3) a higher predation pressure in autumn, likely due to a shrinking water volume that left the fish concentrated in less water. The majority of these differences can be attributed to the direct or indirect impacts of physical factor variation.

Keywords: Lake Poyang; water level; allochthonous sources; predation pressure; flooded hygrophytes; advection migration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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