Impact of reservoirs on zooplankton diversity and implications for the conservation of natural aquatic environments

Reservoirs are intermediate ecosystems between rivers and lakes. These ecosystems break up the landscape by forming artificial lakes connected by rivers and change important ecological processes of lotic ecosystems (e.g. organic matter production and nutrient cycling) and thus have direct effects on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrobiologia 2015-10, Vol.758 (1), p.3-17
Main Authors: Simões, Nadson R, Nunes, Ariádine H, Dias, Juliana D, Lansac-Tôha, Fábio A, Velho, Luiz Felipe M, Bonecker, Cláudia C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adverse effects
Analysis
Aquatic ecology
aquatic environment
Biodiversity
Biodiversity conservation
biogeochemical cycles
Biomedical and Life Sciences
community structure
Dams
ecological function
Ecology
Ecosystems
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
hydrology
lakes
landscapes
Life Sciences
lotic systems
organic matter
phosphorus
Plankton
Primary Research Paper
rivers
species diversity
tropics
Zoology
zooplankton
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Summary:Reservoirs are intermediate ecosystems between rivers and lakes. These ecosystems break up the landscape by forming artificial lakes connected by rivers and change important ecological processes of lotic ecosystems (e.g. organic matter production and nutrient cycling) and thus have direct effects on aquatic biodiversity. We test the hypothesis that damming water courses exerts a negative effect on the zooplankton community by decreasing the alpha diversity. Samplings were conducted in 30 reservoirs and 29 natural lakes in the Neotropics, during two hydrological periods (dry and rainy) in 2001. The study analysed differences in alpha diversity, the number of rare, accessory and constant species, and species composition between the types of lakes. Alpha diversity was significantly higher in natural lakes and species composition differed between natural lakes and reservoirs. Zooplankton alpha diversity was positively related to total phosphorus (best model), indicating that productive environments (natural lakes) gather more species. Our results suggest that reservoirs have negative effect on community structure, whereas natural lakes have an important ecological function for biodiversity conservation because they are refuges for biodiversity.
ISSN:0018-8158
1573-5117
DOI:10.1007/s10750-015-2260-y