Abstract
The number of individuals and species of zooplankton were sampled concurrently with Hydrilla biomass and water quality for one year in a small, eutrophic central Florida lake. Throughout the study, rotifer species and individuals dominated the zooplankton. The abundance of the zooplankton tended to remain high when Hydrilla biomass was at its seasonal low during late winter and early spring. When hydrilla growth increased in the late spring and summer months causing a decrease in total alkalinity, specific conductivity, water color, turbidity, orthophosphate and chlorophyll a concentrations; the abundance of the zooplankton declined. During this time, there was a shift from limnetic to littoral species, principally rotifers. Hydrilla growth did not affect the mean number of cladoceran or copepod species, but may have led to an increase in rotifer species.
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Schmitz, D.C., Osborne, J.A. Zooplankton densities in a Hydrilla infested lake. Hydrobiologia 111, 127–132 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008625
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008625