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Vol. 53, 2014
Spatiotemporal variations of zooplankton community in a
shallow tropical brackish lagoon (Sontecomapan, Veracruz, Mexico)
Marcela
I Benítez-Díaz Mirón1*, María E Castellanos-Páez2,
Gabriela Garza-Mouriño2, María J Ferrara-Guerrero3
and Marc Pagano4
1Universidad
Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Xochimilco, Doctorado en Ciencias
Biológicas y de la Salud, Calzada del Hueso 1100, Col Villa Quietud,
Delegación Coyoacán CP 04960DF, México
2Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad
Xochimilco, Departamento el Hombre y su Ambiente, Laboratorio de
Rotiferología y Biología Molecular de Plancton, Calzada del Hueso 1100,
Col Villa Quietud, Delegación Coyoacán CP 04960DF, México
3Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad
Xochimilco, Departamento el Hombre y su Ambiente, Laboratorio de
Ecología Microbiana, Calzada del Hueso 1100, Col Villa Quietud,
Delegación Coyoacán CP 04960DF, México
4Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, University of Toulon,
IRD, MIO UM 110, Marseille, France
Abstract
Background: We studied the
relationships between zooplankton distribution and environmental and
trophic factors (abiotic variables, nutrients, bacterial biomass, and
chlorophyll pigments) from three sampling surveys carried out during
the three hydrological seasons (rainy, dry, and norte) in a tropical
coastal lagoon connected to the sea.
Results: Twenty eight (28) of the 54 taxa recorded
were identified to species level, of which 3 genera of Cladocera were
observed for the first time in the lagoon. Season-specific differences
were highly significant. The overall zooplankton abundance was
significantly higher during the dry season (157,000 ind.m−3)
than those during the rainy and norte surveys (means of 11,600 and
16,700 ind.m−3 respectively). Copepoda (mostly nauplii) was
the most abundant group (> 83%) of total zooplankton abundance.
Conclusions: Multivariate
(coinertia) and multilinear regression analyses showed that
transparency, salinity, temperature, pH, and food availability (Chl a, b, and c) were the main determinants of
zooplankton abundance, composition, and diversity, explaining the
seasonal differences. The relatively low zooplankton density in the
lagoon compared to other eutrophic lagoons is attributed to the
combined effects of high water exchanges, low depth, and high
transparency, which favor instability and vulnerability to UV effects
and/or to visual predation.
Key words: Sontecomapan; Zooplankton; Brackish
lagoon; Shallow lagoon; Environmental factors.
*Correspondence: E-mail: mbenitez@correo.xoc.uam.mx
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