Longitudinal variability in the zooplankton community of the upper Ob river

Abstract

O.S. Burmistrova, L.V. Yanygina

Zooplankton is important component of aquatic ecosystems playing the essential role in organic matter circulation and self-purification of water bodies. Current data on zooplankton from one of the largest rivers in the world, i.e. the Ob river, is very fragmentary and cover small areas adjacent to large settlements. This paper presents the results of the zooplankton study of the 458-km stretch of the Ob river – from its source (Fominskoye village) up to the site above the Novosibirsk reservoir (Taradanovo village). To assess the longitudinal distribution of zooplankton, we collected samples from 17 river sections in different phases of a hydrological cycle, i.e. during the periods of flood (May–June) and summer low water (July–August) 2016. A total of 103 species and forms of zooplankton were detected. Rotifera dominated in species number. In various river parts and hydrological cycle phases, species number, abundance and biomass of zooplankton differed significantly. Their maximum typically fell on the period of summer low water. Abundance and biomass of zooplankton tended to increase downstream. In most parts of the river, Rotifers was dominant in number, whereas copepods – in biomass (juvenile stages). Zooplankton distribution along the transversal profile of the river was characterized by the increased species number, abundance and biomass near the right bank (unlike the left one) that is, probably, due to the floodplain appearance on the right bank. An increase in zooplankton abundance was also observed in sites with a low flow velocity (river bays) and below the large tributaries. The assessment of water quality in the study site of the Ob river was performed based on the zooplankton composition and structure. A saprobic index for zooplankton is evidence of oligo- betamesosaprobic conditions.
Key words: Zooplankton, Longitudinal variability, Large rivers
References
Ball, E.E., Smith, D.E., Anderson, E.J., Skufca, J.D. & Twiss, M.R. (2018). Water velocity modeling can delineate nearshore and main channel plankton environments in a large river. Hydrobiologia, 815, 125–140. doi: 10.1007/s10750-018-3556-5
Basu, K.B. & Pick, F.R. (1996). Factors regulating phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass in temperate rivers. Limnol. Oceanogr., 41 (7), 1572–1577.
Burmistrova, O.S. (2004.) Zooplankton in the Ob river (near the city of Barnaul) in 2001–2002. Siberian Zoological Conference: Proceed. of Russ. conf. devoted to the 60th anniversary ISEA SB RAS (Novosibirsk, 15–22 September 2004), 24–25. (In Russian)
Dejen, E., Vijverberg, J., Nagelkerke, L.A.J. & Sibbing, F.A. (2004). Temporal and spatial distribution of microcrustacean zooplankton in relation to turbidity and other environmental factors in a large tropical lake (L.Tana, Ethiopia). Hydrobiologia, 513, 39–49.
Dershe, R. & Skute, A. (2011). The influence of ecohydrological factors on the cenosis of the Daugava River zooplankton. Acta Zoologica Lituanica, 21 (2), 133-144. doi: 10.2478/v10043-011-0013-3
Friedrich, G. & Pohlmann, M. (2009). Long-term plankton studies at the lower Rhine (Germany). Limnologica, 39, 14–39. doi: 10.1016/j.limno.2008.03.006
Guidelines for hydrobiological monitoring of freshwater ecosystems. (1992). Saint Petersburg, Gidrometeoizdat. (In Russian)
Key to zooplankton and zoobenthos of fresh waters of European Russia. V.1. Zooplankton. (2010). Moscow, Association of scientific publications. (In Russian)
Kim, H.W. & Joo, G.J. (2000). The longitudinal distribution and community dynamics of zooplankton in a regulated large river: a case study of the Nakdong River (Korea). Hydrobiologia, 438, 171–184.
Kirillov, V.V., Kiknadze, I.I., Rudneva, L.V., Vesnina, L.V., Egorkina, G.I., Mitrofanova, E.Yu., Zarubina, E.Yu., Kim, G.V., Kirillova, T.V. & Matveeva, O.V. (1997). Biological diversity of aquatic ecosystems in the Upper Ob basin. Ob Vestnik, 2–3, 61–67. (In Russian)
Krylov, A.V. (2005) Zooplankton of lowland small rivers. Moscow, Nauka. (In Russian)
Kutikova, L.A. (1970). Rotifers in the USSR fauna (Rotatoria). Leningrad, Nauka. (In Russian)
Lair, N. & Reyes-Marchant, P. (1997). The potamoplankton of the Middle Loire and the role of the´moving littoral´ in downstream transfer of algae and rotifers. Hydrobiologia, 356, 33–52.
Lair, N. (2005). Abiotic vs. biotic factors: Lessons drawn from rotifers in the Middle Loire, a meandering river monitored from 1995 to 2002, during low flow periods. Hydrobiologia, 546, 457–472.
Lair, N. (2006). A review of regulation mechanisms of metazoan plankton in riverine ecosystems: aquatic habitat versus biota. River Research and Applications, 22, 567–593.
Loginova, E.V. & Lopukh, P.S. (2011). Hydroecology: a course of lectures. Minsk, BSU. (In Russian)
Mitrakhovich, P.A. (2003). Zooplankton of the Svisloch river and its seasonal dynamics nearby Minsk. Lake ecosystems: biological processes, anthropogenic transformation, water quality: Proceed. of II intern. sci. conf. (22–26 September 2003, Minsk–Naroch). Minsk, BSU, 484–487. (In Russian)
Napiórkowski, P., & Napiórkowska, T. (2013). The diversity and longitudinal changes of zooplankton in the lower course of a large, regulated European river (the lower Vistula River, Poland). Biologia, 68(6), 1163–1171. doi:10.2478/s11756-013-0263-6
Neizvestnova-Zhadina, E.S. (1929) Studying the microfauna of the Ob river and its basin. Bulletin of SHI, 25, 59–70. (In Russian)
Parchuk, G.V. & Klochenko, P.D. (1997). Comparative characteristics of zooplankton from Dnieper tributaries. Hydrobiological journal, 33 (3), 14–28. (In Russian)
Potemkina, T.V., Sheveleva, N.G., Shaburova, N.I., Misharina, E.A. & Knizhin, I.B. (2016). Structure and Quantitative Characteristics of Zooplankton and Zoobenthos in the upper reaches of Lena and water bodies. Journal of Siberian Federal University. Biology, 3, 313–329 (In Russian)
Reckendorfer, W., Keckeis, H., Winkler, G & Schiemer, F. (1999). Zooplankton abundance in the River Danube, Austria: The significance of inshore retention. Freshwater Biology, 41, 583–591.
Romanova, G.P. (1963). To the study of zooplankton and zoobenthos of the upper reaches of the Ob river. Nature of the Ob river floodplain and its economic development. Tomsk University, 152, 115–125. (In Russian)
Rossetti, G., Viaroli, P. & Ferrari, I. (2009). Role of abiotic factors in structuring the metazoan plankton community in a lowland river. River Research and Applications, 25(7), 814–835.
Sheveleva, N.G. (2004). Features of zooplankton diversity in large Siberian rivers (Yenisei, Selenga, Lena). In: Proceed. of Russ. conf. devoted to the 60th anniversary ISEA SB RAS, September 15–22. Novosibirsk, 90. (In Russian)
Vasiliev, O.F., Zinoviev, A.T., Koshelev, K.B., Dyachenko, A.V. & Kolomeytsev, A.A. (2014). Extreme rain flood of 2014 in the Upper Ob basin: its formation, forecasting and field observations. Water and environmental problems of Siberia and Central Asia: Proceed. of Russ. Sci. Conf. with intern. participation. Barnaul, IWEP SB RAS, 1, 9–16. (In Russian)
Vesnina, L.V. (2002). Zooplankton in lake ecosystems of the Altai Krai plain. Novosibirsk, Nauka. (In Russian)
Vesnina, L.V., Surkov, D.A., Piatkova, Ia.S., Kuznetsova, K.A. & Ershov, N.N. (2015). Zooplankton and zoobenthos in water bodies of polytypic landscape zones of Altai Krai. Bulletin of fisheries science, 2(4), 71–85. (In Russian)
Water of Russia. River basins. (2000). Ekaterinburg, AQUA-Press. (In Russian)
Zimmermann-Timm, H., Holst, H. & Kausch, H. (2007). Spatial dynamics of rotifers in a large lowland river, the Elbe, Germany: How important are retentive shoreline habitats for plankton community? Hydrobiologia, 593, 49–58. doi: 10.1007/s10750-007-9046-9

Share this article