Zooplankton community structure and environmental conditions of tundra lakes in the Pechora river delta (Northern Russia)

Abstract

© SGEM 2019. The high number of freshwaters and wetlands is a characteristic feature of arctic and subarctic landscapes in the northern Russia. Arctic freshwater ecosystems are especially susceptible to the negative consequences of global environmental change drivers. We studied zooplankton communities of 14 small tundra lakes in the Pechora River delta (in the northeast of European Russia). The composition, structure of zooplankton, and ecological stage of lakes were analyzed. A total of 107 zooplankton taxa were identified. Rotifers (48 species) prevail numerically and cladocerans (39 species) in biomass. The zoogeographical analysis of data on these taxa did not refute the widely accepted opinion on the fauna of the majority of zooplankton taxa in the Pechora River delta as of Palearctic with the elements of Arctic. Most common taxa were Conochilus unicornis, Notholca acuminata, Kellicottia longispina, Bosmina longirostris, Bosmina (Eubosmina) longispina, Eudiaptomus graciloides, Heterocope appendiculata, and immature stages of copepods. According to the calculated values of the Pantle–Buck saprobity index and the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, most of the studied tundra lakes were characterized as oligosaprobic and oligotrophic.