Zooplankton community changes in a restoring estuary
Bernard, A.; Azémar, F.; Maris, T.; Meire, P.; Martínez, L.A.; Mouth, C.; Bou, E.; Tackx, M. (2025). Zooplankton community changes in a restoring estuary. Est., Coast. and Shelf Sci. 324: 109450. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2025.109450
In: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. Academic Press: London; New York. ISSN 0272-7714; e-ISSN 1096-0015, more
|   |
| Keywords |
Abundance
Environmental factors
|
| Author keywords |
Copepods; Cladocerans; Rotifers; a diversity; Decision tree |
| Authors | | Top |
- Bernard, A.
- Azémar, F.
- Maris, T., more
- Meire, P., more
|
- Martínez, L.A., more
- Mouth, C.
- Bou, E.
- Tackx, M.
|
|
| Abstract |
This study discribes crustacean (copepods and cladocerans) and rotifer abundance, diversity and community composition in the Scheldt estuary, during 1996–2022. Besides the ongoing envionmental change, increased wastewater treatment, followed by the alteration of the main Scheldt channel, have characterized this period. A combination of clustering, correlative and decision tree analysis was used to investigate relationships between zooplankton and the major environmental parameter changes. Since 1996, both crustacean and rotifer communities showed a clear chlorinity-induced separation between the brackish (LSS) and the freshwater (USS) estuary. The effects of water de-eutrophication are visible in both crustacean and rotifer communities, particularly in the freshwater reach. Recently, marks of marinization and intensification of dredging activities, partly linked to changes in phytoplankton are detected on the zooplankton. |
|
