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TRANSCRIPT
Investigating the Relationship of Zooplankton and Land Use in Small Eastern NY lakes
James P. Tucci1, John Farrell2, Brandy Brown2, Karen Murray1
1U.S. Geological Survey, 2SUNY-ESF
Acknowledgments
• Support and Funding provided by: – Thousand Island Biological Station– SUNY ESF Honor’s Program– USGS
• Access provided by Nature Preserves of Rensselaer County and various homeowners
Why Zooplankton?
• Primary/secondary consumers, important prey for fish
• Can be used as indicators of ecosystem health
• Rensselaer county (NY); has over 53 lakes, zooplankton and fish communities not characterized for most
• The area is experiencing increasing development
PhytoplanktonDaphnia
Yellow PerchChain Pickerel
Objectives
• Document zooplankton community composition for a large number of lakes in Rensselaer County region
• Describe relations between zooplankton community composition and both natural and human factors
Study Area
Albany
n=25Size 10-275 acres Impervious 0-38%
Methods• Sampled June-July 2013
• Zooplankton collection: 153 micron net, 3 tows composited
• 50 organism subsample identified to lowest taxonomic level
• Environmental variables:
• Cluster Analysis, ANOVA
Lake Morphology-Depth, Size, SDL, stratified, elevation
Lake Chemistry-pH, D.O., Conductivity, Si, Temperature, Secchi Depth
Lake Basin Metrics-Percent impervious, percent forested, Human development, percent riparian forested, basin size
Daphnia pulex
Holopedium gibberum
Cyclops scutifer
Microcyclops rubellus
Calanoid copepod
Mesocyclops edax
Diacyclops thomasi
Alona spp.
Ceriodaphnia laticaudata
Bosmina longirostris
Diaphanosoma bergei
Daphnia catawba
Daphnia mendotae
Daphnia ambigua
Daphnia rosea
Zooplankton Community CompositionCopepods
Other cladocerans
Large daphnids
HolopediumSmall daphnids
Cluster Analysis performed in Primer 7.0SIMPROF TEST p <0.01
Cluster analysis - Zooplankton relative abundance
LakeGroup average
HK
P
MLP
BB
P
BR
P
HP
L
DD
L
CB
P
UN
L
FTL
GV
P
LGL
TCL
DK
P
DN
R
SN
P
SD
L
BN
L
LLD
GS
L
CYL
PK
P
VD
L
RD
L
CR
L
HG
L
Samples
100
80
60
40
20
Sim
ilarit
y
Transform: Square rootStandardise Samples by TotalResemblance: S17 Bray-Curtis similarity
Lake Name Abbreviation
A B C D
Percent Abundance
Relative Abundance of Zooplankton in Lake Clusters
Group A Group B
Group C Group D
Large Daphnids
Holopedium
Other Cladoceran
Small Daphnid
Copepod
Holopedium Other Cladocerans
Large Daphnids
Small Daphnids
Community Composition and Lake Size
Differences among groups evaluated by Tukey’s test on ranks (p < 0.05)
1 2 3 4
Size (acres)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300AB B AC C
4 6 5 11n =
Small lakes Large lakes
- 5th&95th percentile
- 25th and 75th
percentile
- outlier
-median
n = number of lakes in cluster
Other Clado.Holopedium Small Daphnids Large Daphnids
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Community Composition and Conductivity
Differences among groups evaluated by Tukey’s test on ranks (p < 0.05)
1 2 3 4
Specific conductance (uS
/cm)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
- 5th&95th percentile
- 25th and 75th
percentile
- outlier
-median
n = number of lakes in cluster
4 6 5 11n =
AB AB A B
Small lakes Large lakes
Other Clado.Holopedium Small Daphnids Large Daphnids
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Community Composition and Impervious Basin %
Differences among groups evaluated by Tukey’s test on ranks (p < 0.05)
1 2 3 4
Percent Im
pervious
0
10
20
30
40A AB A B
4 6 5 11n =
- 5th&95th percentile
- 25th and 75th
percentile
- outlier
-median n = number of lakes in cluster
Small lakes Large lakes
Other Clado.Holopedium Small Daphnids Large Daphnids
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Other factors, future research… • Sewer versus septic• Nutrient concentrations• Fish community composition and structure
Summary & Conclusions
• Zooplankton community composition varies widely across the study area
• Lake groups can be characterized by 4 distinct communities; large daphnids, holopedium, small daphnids, and other cladocerans
• Major variables affecting community structure were: lake morphometry (lake size), conductivity, and percent of basin impervious
• Results suggest that zooplankton communities are influenced both by natural drivers as well as anthropogenic ones
Thank you!