Issues:
Sections:
Issue 99
GENERAL BIOLOGY
UDK: 574.583(26)
SPECIES COMPOSITION AND SEASONAL DYNAMICS OF ZOOPLANKTON COMMUNITIES IN THE CHIRKEY RESERVOIR
This study presents the first comprehensive data on the species composition and current state of zooplankton communities in the dam section of the Chirkey Reservoir. The analysis is based on materials from expeditionary research conducted by the authors in 2024. We investigated the seasonal dynamics of zooplankton abundance and biomass distribution. During the study period, 27 zooplankton species at various developmental stages were identified. Copepods were the most broadly represented group, with widespread species including Calanipeda aquaedulcis (Kritsch, 1873), Cyclops strenuus strenuus (Fischer, 1851), Eudiaptomus graciloides (Lilljeborg, 1857), and Mesocyclops leuckarti (Lilljeborg, 1857). Zooplankton community structure was found to depend on the reservoir's temperature and hydrodynamic regimes, which are driven by spring-summer glacial meltwater inflow and autumn-winter pre-flood drawdown. Notably, following summer replenishment, rotifers and the cladoceran Diaphanosoma brachyurum (Levin, 1848) proliferated significantly in the flooded left-bank area, with abundances exceeding 8,000 and 11,000 ind./m?, respectively. The zooplankton complex was dominated by cladocerans and copepods, which together constituted more than half of the total zooplankton biomass.
Pages: 23 - 28
Date: 30.12.2025