Biodiv Sci ›› 2010, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (1): 67-75.  DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1003.2010.067

• Original Papers • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Species composition and diversity of zooplankton in tidal creeks of the Chongming Dongtan intertidal flat

Qiang Li, Chuanguang An, Qiang Ma, Linlin Xu, Yunlong Zhao*()   

  1. School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062
  • Received:2009-04-09 Accepted:2009-09-24 Online:2010-01-20 Published:2010-01-20
  • Contact: Yunlong Zhao

Abstract:

In order to reveal the diversity of zooplankton in tidal creeks of the Chongming Dongtan intertidal flat, we sampled zooplankton at 18 stations in six tidal creeks during four seasons from April to December in 2008. The species composition, dominant species, community structure, and species diversity were recorded. A total of 44 species, belonging to 6 taxa, were identified. Among them, Copepoda were dominant, accounting for 79.5% of the total recorded species. There were nine dominant species. Sinocalanus tenellus was the most dominant species in spring, Schmackeria poplesia in summer, Schmackeria poplesia and Sinocalanus sinensis in autumn, and Sinocalanus sinensis and Limnoithona etraspina in winter. Shannon-Wiener indices (H′) were higher in summer and winter, species richness indices (d) were higher in summer and autumn, and Pielou evenness indices (J′) peaked in winter. Compared with data from North Channel and the North Branch of the Yangtze River Estuary, only six common species were found, demonstrating significantly different species composition. The ecological characteristics of zooplankton were also related to tide; species diversity was slightly higher during flood tide than ebb tide. In addition, the dominant species were different during flood and ebb tide. Environmental factors, such as salinity, temperature, runoff, and tidal current influenced the temporal and spatial distributions of zooplankton in tidal creeks.

Key words: species composition, dominant species, community structure, species diversity, tidal creek, zooplankton