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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 2264

Juta Haberman; Zooplankton of Lake Yaskhan. Limnologica 23(3):215-225, 1993

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In April, July and November 1988 the species composition, abundance and biomass of zooplankton were studied in Lake Yaskhan in the Kara-Kum desert (Turkmenia). Production, food consumption respiration and assimilation of zooplankton were calculated by the physiological method. Ecological relations between zooplankton, bacterioplankton and phytoplankton are characterized by various ratios. Rotifers are dominating in April and July, copepods in November. The abundance of zooplankton is great (231200-2075400 ind./m-3), biomass medium (0.321-5.501 g/m-3), production great (4.800-280.700 mgC/m-2/day-1). Zooplankton feeds mostly on detritus and detritus-related bacteria; the detrital type of food chain prevails in the waterbody. The herbivorous zooplankton food consumption makes up 21.5% of the phytoplankton production. Consequently, at minimum 78.5% of primary production will be recycled in the detrital food chain. Predatory zooplankton consumes 29.0% of the production of herbivorous zooplankton. About 3.3% of the phytoplankton energy reaches fishes. The development of zooplankton is effected most of all by water temperature and Cl- content as abiotic factors, and by the phytoplankton production and the Chl-a content as biotic factors. Evidently, the development of zooplankton near the bottom is inhibited by H2S and the lack of O2.