Benthic-pelagic coupling drives non-seasonal zooplankton blooms and restructures energy flows in shallow tropical lakes.

ABSTRACT: Zooplankton blooms are a frequent phenomenon in tropical systems. However, drivers of bloom formation and the contribution of emerging resting eggs are largely unexplored. We investigated the dynamics and the triggers of rotifer blooms in African soda-lakes and assessed their impact on other trophic levels. A meta-analysis of rotifer peak densities including abundances of up to 6 × 10⁵ individuals L^-1 demonstrated that rotifer bloom formation was uncoupled from the food environment and the seasonality of climatic conditions. A time series with weekly sampling intervals from Lake Nakuru (Kenya) revealed that intrinsic growth factors (food quality and the physicochemical environment) significantly affected rotifer population fluctuations, but were of minor importance fo

SUBMITTER: Burian A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4981947 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature