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Zooplankton in the Lake Tana Shore Zone (Ethiopia) at the Beginning of the Dry Season

  • ZOOPLANKTON, ZOOBENTHOS, ZOOPERIPHYTON
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Abstract

At the beginning of the dry season, immediately after the end of the rainy season, estimations of zooplankton abundance have been carried out in three types of shore areas of Lake Tana (Ethiopia): (1) open water, (2) borders of thickets, and (3) macrophyte thickets. The minimum quantitative characteristics of plankton animals are reported in macrophyte thickets; the maximum are in areas of open water. Negative correlations are obtained between the level of overgrowth by macrophytes and the quantitative characteristics of zooplankton organisms. The peculiarities of the quantitative development and structure of zooplankton in the zone of thickets and at their border, when compared with open water areas (as well as compared with the second half of the dry season), indicate the leading role of top-control in the formation of invertebrate communities, which is associated with an increase in the number of young fish. Optimal conditions for feeding and shelters for juvenile fish during daylight hours are formed at the boundary of macrophyte thickets, as a result of which the minimum abundance and biomass of zooplankton are found there.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to N.K. Ovchinnikova (Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences) for invaluable assistance in processing samples and A.A. Darkov (Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences) for organizing the field studies.

Funding

The material was collected in the course of the Joint Russian–Ethiopian Biological Expedition (JERBE); the material was processed and the data was analyzed within the framework of a state assignment (project no. АААА-А18-118012690106-7).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences, Borok, Nekouzskii raion, Yaroslavl oblast, Russia

    A. V. Krylov & A. A. Prokin

  2. Bahir Dar University, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    W. Zelalem

  3. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    F. N. Shkil

  4. Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    F. N. Shkil

Authors
  1. A. V. Krylov
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  2. W. Zelalem
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  3. A. A. Prokin
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  4. F. N. Shkil
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Correspondence to A. V. Krylov, W. Zelalem or F. N. Shkil.

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Translated by N. Ruban

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Krylov, A.V., Zelalem, W., Prokin, A.A. et al. Zooplankton in the Lake Tana Shore Zone (Ethiopia) at the Beginning of the Dry Season. Inland Water Biol 13, 605–612 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1995082920040057

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