Abstract
Planktonic crustaceans are the basis of the food supply for animals with higher trophic levels and determine the fish productivity of any water body. Large Cladocera play a significant role in the natural purification of the water column. Some Copepods are intermediate hosts of parasites, including those that are dangerous to humans. Given the key role of planktonic invertebrates, their research is essential for effective management of aquatic ecosystems. The Balkhash-Alakol system includes five main lakes (Balkhash, Alakol, Koshkarkol, Sasykkol, and Zhalanashkol), with a pronounced gradient of water mineralization. The study of planktonic crustaceans in the lakes of the Balkhash-Alakol system was carried out between 2002 and 2007. Previous studies addressed zooplankton; however, planktonic crustaceans were not studied separately, making this research necessary. The samples and the processing of the zooplankton samples were performed using standard methods. During the study, 74 planktonic crustaceans were recorded, with the highest species richness in the East Balkhash and Alakol lakes (48–47 species) and the lowest values in Zhalanashkol (9 species). According to the results of the cluster analysis, the species composition of planktonic crustaceans in the lakes surveyed was characterized by a low level of similarity. Ecologically, euryhaline forms predominated throughout. The abundance of planktonic crustaceans ranged from 31,836 to 105,860 individuals/m³. The dominant species included Diaphanosoma lacustris, Mesocyclops leuckarti, Thermocyclops crassus, Arctodiaptomus salinus, and Ceriodaphnia reticulata. The results obtained expand our understanding of the formation of the structure of plankton communities under the influence of external factors.
References
Anufriieva EV, Shadrin NV (2023) Salinity as a Factor Limiting the Potential Taxonomic Richness of Crustaceans in Ecosystems of Hypersaline Reservoirs around the World. Inland Water Biology 16: 892–898. https://doi.org/10.31857/S0320965223050030
Abrosov VN (1973) Lake Balkhash. Nauka, Leniningrad, 180 pp. [In Russian]
Amirgaliyev NA, Lopareva TY, Gogol LA, Kaganatova SC (2003) Hydrochemical regime of the lakes of the Alakol basin. Hydrometeorology and Ecology 4: 102–114. [In Russian]
Bruce LC, Hamilton DP, Imberger J, Gal G, Gophen M, Zohary T, Hambright KD (2006) A numerical simulation of the role of zooplankton in C, N and P cycling in Lake Kinneret, Israel. Ecological Modelling 193(3–4): 412–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2005.09.008
Chertoprud ES, Novichkova AA, Novikov AA, Fefilova EB, Vorobjeva LV, Pechenkin DS, Glubokov AI (2022) Assemblages of meiobenthic and planktonic microcrustaceans (Cladocera and Copepoda) from small water bodies of mountain Subarctic (Putorana Plateau, Middle Siberia). Diversity 14(6): 492. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14060492
Dubovskaya OP (2009) Non-predatory mortality of planktonic crustaceans: possible causes (literature review). Journal of General Biology 2: 168–192. [In Russian]
Dodson S (1991) Species richness of crustacean zooplankton in European lakes of different sizes. SIL Proceedings 24(2): 1223–1229. https://doi.org/10.1080/03680770.1989.11898949
Dyusengaliev T (1972) Zoogeographical and ecological characteristics of zooplankton in the Alakol lakes. Biological Foundations of Fishery Management of Water Bodies of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Fergana, Tashkent, 82–83. [In Russian]
Filonets PP (1965) Morphometry of Alakol lakes. Questions of Geography of Kazakhstan 12: 79–87. [In Russian]
Gerasimova TN, Sadchikov AP (2021) Fighting cyanobacterial blooms in an experimental ecosystem: The role of filtering zooplankton. Materials on the flora and fauna of the Republic of Bashkortostan 30: 33–40. [In Russian]
Jeppesen E, Nõges P, Davidson TA, Haberman J, Nõges T, Blank K, Lauridsen TL, Søndergaard M, Sayer C, Laugaste R, Johansson LS, Bjerring R, Amsinck SL (2011) Zooplankton as Indicators in Lakes: A Scientific-Based Plea for Including Zooplankton in the Ecological Quality Assessment of Lakes According to the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Hydrobiologia 676: 279–297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0831-0
Korponai J, Braun M, Forró L, Gyulai I, Kövér C, Nédli J, Urák I, Buczkó K (2019) Taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity: how subfossil cladocerans mirror contemporary community for ecosystem functioning: a comparative study in two oxbows. Limnetica 38(1): 431–456. https://doi.org/10.23818/limn.38.25
Khlebovich VV (2013) Critical salinity–homeostasis–sustainable development. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS 317(3): 3–6.
Krupa EG, Stuge TS, Lopareva TY, Shaukharbaeva DS (2008) Distribution of Planktonic Crustaceans in Lake Balkhash in Relation to Environmental Factors. Inland Water Biology 1(2): 150–157. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995082908020077
Krupa EG, Sharipova KZ (2009) Multi-year dynamics of quantitative variables of zooplankton of Lake Balkhash. Research, Results 4:15–18.
Krupa EG, Amirgaliyev NA, Lopareva TY, Isaeva AK, Bimanbayeva BB (2010) Zooplankton of Alakol Lake and Its Distribution Depending on Water Mineralization and Chemical Composition. Bulletin of KazNU, Biological Series 1: 96–101. [In Russian]
Krupa EG (2012) Zooplankton of Limnic and Lotic Ecosystems of Kazakhstan: Structure and Formation Patterns. Palmarium Academic Publishing, Germany, 346 pp. [In Russian]
Krupa EG, Coy VN, Lopaverova TA, Ponomaryova LP, Anuryeva AN, Sadirbayeva NN, Alysbekova SZ, Isbekov KB (2013) Many years of dynamic hydrobiobionts of the Lake Balkhash and its connection with environmental factors. Vestnik Astrakan State Technical University, Fisheries Series 2: 85–96. [In Russian]
Krupa EG, Dobrokhotova OV, Stuge TS (2016) The Calanoida (Crustacea, Copepoda) fauna of Kazakhstan and adjacent territories. EtalonPrint, Almaty, 208 pp. [In Russian]
Loginovskikh EV (1965) The food base of the Alakol lakes and its use by fish. Alakol Basin and Its Lakes 12: 223–235. [In Russian]
Loginovskikh EV, Dyusengaliev T (1972) Quantitative characteristics of zooplankton in the Alakol lakes. Fishery Resources of Water Bodies of Kazakhstan and Their Use 7: 89–94. [In Russian]
Mehner T, Keeling C, Emmrich M, Holmgren K, Argillier Ch, Volta P, Winfield IJ, Brucet S (2016) Effects of fish predation on density and size spectra of prey fish communities in lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 4: 506–518. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2015-0034
Malinovskaya AS (1959) The food base of the Alakol lakes and its use by fish. Collection of works on ichthyology and hydrobiology. Second edition. The Publishing House of the Kazakh SSR, Alma-Ata, 116–144. [In Russian]
Mirabdullaev IM (1996) The genus Mesocyclops (Crustacea: Copepoda) in Uzbekistan (Central Asia). International Review of Hydrobiology 81(1): 93–100. https://doi.org/10.1002/iroh.19960810111
Manuilova EF (1964) Branchiopod Crustaceans (Cladocera) of the USSR Fauna. Nauka, Moscow, 326 pp. [In Russian]
Park KS, Shin HW (2007) Studies on phyto-and-zooplankton composition and its relation to fish productivity in a west coast fish pond ecosystem. Journal of Environmental Biology 28(2): 415–422.
Rylov VM (1948) Cyclopoida of freshwaters. Fauna of the USSR. Crustaceans. Vol. 3(3). Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 348 pp. [In Russian]
Samonov AM (1940) Benthos of the Alakol Lakes. Collections of the Kazakh Research Institute of Fisheries (KazNIIRKH). [In Russian]
Sharipova KZ, Lopareva TY (1983) Quantitative development of zooplankton in the Alakol lakes and factors determining it. Biological Foundations of Fishery Management of Water Bodies of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Conference Abstracts, Tashkent: 145–146. [In Russian]
Sharapova LI (1999) The state of the planktonic fauna in the Alakol lake system at the end of the 1990s. Problems of Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity of Animal World of Kazakhstan. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, Almaty, 159–160. [In Russian]
Stuge TS (1999) On the zooplankton of the Alakol lakes. Problems of Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity of Animal World of Kazakhstan. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, Almaty, 146–147. [In Russian]
Stuge TS, Krupa EG, Smirnova DA (2004) Zooplankton of the Alakol-Sasykkol lake system. Proceedings of the Alakol Reserve, Almaty, 119–137. [In Russian]
Tarasov MN (1961) Hydrochemistry of Lake Balkhash. Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 224 pp. [In Russian]
Winberg GG, Lavrentieva GM (1984) Zooplankton and its production. Methodical recommendations for collecting and processing materials during hydrobiological research in freshwater bodies. Zoological Institute, Leniningrad, 1–34. [In Russian]
Zamora-Terol S, Novotny A, Winder M (2021) Molecular evidence of host-parasite interactions between zooplankton and Syndiniales. Aquatic Ecology 55: 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-020-09816-3
Zavarzin DS (2021) Freshwater and brackish water planktonic copepods (Crustacea: Copepoda) of Sakhalin Island (Far East Asia). Recent advances in freshwater crustacean biodiversity and conservation 22: 255–306. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003139560-9
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.