Zooplankton in and out of a Controlled Reduced Tide (CRT) estuarine system
In: Wetlands. Official Scholarly Journal of the Society of Wetland Scientists. Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS)/Springer: Wilmington. ISSN 0277-5212; e-ISSN 1943-6246, more
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| Author keywords |
Intertidal marsh; Copepods; Rotifers; Environmental conditions; phragmites-australis; schelde estuary; resting eggs; water; sediment; belgium; habitat; restoration; netherlands; abundance |
| Authors | | Top |
- Bernard, A.
- Maris, T., more
- Azémar, F.
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- Baeten, S., more
- Meire, P., more
- Tackx, M.
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| Abstract |
Controlled Reduced Tide (CRT) systems are a practical way to restore neap-spring cycles in lowered estuarine embankments. As environmental conditions such as suspended particular matter, chlorophyll a and oxygen concentrations in these systems can rapidly differ from those in the incoming estuarine water, this study investigated if passage through the Lippenbroek CRT (Scheldt estuary, Belgium) impacted the estuarine zooplankton community. Quantifying zooplankton going in and out of the CRT showed that total abundance and number of taxa were not significantly different between incoming and outgoing waters. Comparing IN and OUT going abundance for each taxon separately by a sign test showed the system to act as a sink for Bdelloid rotifers and calanoid copepodites and as a source for the rotifer Trichotria brevidactyla. However, the Lippenbroek impact on these taxa did not result in a change of the total composition of the community coming in and out of the CRT, as tested by PERMANOVA. These findings suggest that implementation of CRT systems have little influence on the estuarine zooplankton communities, but larger scale evaluations should be run. |
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