Seasonal patterns of the zooplankton community in the shallow, brackish Liman Lake in Kızılırmak Delta, Turkey

Authors: YASEMİN SAYGI, ERTUNÇ GÜNDÜZ, FATMA YILDIZ DEMİRKALP, SELİM SÜALP ÇAĞLAR

Abstract: The present study reports on the zooplankton community in Liman Lake based on field studies carried out between October 2002 and March 2004. A total of 35 zooplankton taxa, belonging to Rotifera (28), Cladocera (5), and Copepoda (2), were identified. Rotifera was the dominant group in all sampling surveys and accounted for 97% of the zooplankton density in the lake. The average total zooplankton abundance ranged from 993 to 476,912 ind/m3. The maximum and the minimum densities were measured in April and August of 2003, respectively. Seasonal fluctuations of zooplankton found in the current study disagreed with the Plankton Ecology Group (PEG) model. During the study period, only rotifer species were found to be quantitatively dominant in the zooplankton community. Quantitative contributions of Cladocera and Copepoda to the zooplankton community were insignificant. Keratella quadrata, Keratella cochlearis, and Hexarthra oxyuris were the dominant species and were present during the whole year. Shannon's diversity index ranged from 0.61 to 1.67.

Keywords: Lake Liman, brackish lake, zooplankton, seasonal distribution, Turkey

Full Text: PDF