Factors influencing species richness in lacustrine zooplankton

Anders Hobæk*, Marina Manca, Tom Andersen

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    84 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Frequent dispersal events are expected to elevate local species richness in island-like habitats such as lakes. However, the importance of dispersal can be hard to evaluate if other factors cause large background variability in species composition and richness. In this paper, we review empirical studies on ecological factors known or expected to influence species richness in zooplankton communities of inland lakes. We then present summaries of two recent case studies. Our objectives are twofold: we first look for effects of biotic interactions on species richness and species composition, and then evaluate whether the expected effects of dispersal are likely to be detected on a background of large variability caused by other ecological factors and interactions. Species richness within lakes appears to be primarily controlled by factors related to lake size, lake productivity, water quality, and fish predation levels. One case study indicated a slight, but significant, positive effect of lake density and lake area in the surrounding landscape on species richness, suggesting that frequent dispersal events may enhance species richness. This local variation in species richness is superimposed on regional variation in species pools.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)155-163
    Number of pages9
    JournalActa Oecologica
    Volume23
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2002

    Keywords

    • Biodiversity
    • Cladocera
    • Community ecology
    • Crustacea
    • Dispersal
    • Freshwater
    • Predation
    • Species richness
    • Zooplankton

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Factors influencing species richness in lacustrine zooplankton'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this