Does Long-Term Macrophyte Management in Lakes Affect Biotic Richness and Diversity?

We hypothesize that the richness and diversity of the biota in Lake Moraine (42°50’47”N, 75°31’39”W) in New York have been negatively impacted by 60 years of macrophyte and algae management to control Eurasian watermilfoil ( Myriophyllum spicatum L.) and associated noxious plants. To test this hypothesis we compare water quality characteristics, richness and selected indicators of plant diversity, zooplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish in Lake Moraine with those in nearby Hatch Lake (42°50’06”N, 75°40’67”W). The latter is of similar size and would be expected to have similar biota, but has not been subjected to management. Measurements of temperature, pH, oxygen, conductivity, Secchi transparency, calcium, total phosphorus and nitrites + nitrates are comparable. Taxa richness and the diversity indices applied to the aquatic macrophytes are similar in both lakes. (PDF has 8 pages.)

Structure and diversity in Mytilus californianus (Mollusca: Bivalvia) communities

Mytilus californianus (Mollusca: Bivalvia), the California marine mussel, occurs in intertidal populations so derise that they are referred to as "Mussel beds." The mussel beds range in physical complexity from structurally simple, essentially mono-layered assemblages, to structurally complex, multi-layered assemblages. The internal environment within the bed varies accordingly. The mussel bed provides either directly or indirectly, habitat, food and shelter for a large community of associated invertebrates. This study examines the relationship between physical complexity of the mussel bed habitat and composition of the associated community.

Fish diversity of the wild and aquaculture water bodies in Singida Region

Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute being currently the only fisheries research institute in Tanzania has sole responsibility of marking the presence and distribution of fish species in the country. This work is expected to be completed by the year 2005. In order that this work can be accomplished, both published works and field observations (including geographical location using GPS) have to be compiled. Since the institute has centers in all the Great Lakes and one along the Indian Ocean coast, it is expected that field observations and identifications will be obtained and incorporated into the document to be produced by 2005. (PDF contains 15 pages)

The importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment

Whereas some species may rely on periodic drought conditions for part of their life histories, or have life strategies suited to exploiting the habitat or changed environmental conditions that are created by drought, for other organisms it is a time of stress. Periodic drought conditions therefore generate a series of waves of colonization and extinctions. Studies on lowland wet grassland, in winterbournes and in the toiche zone of both ponds and rivers, also demonstrate that different organisms are competitively favoured with changing hydrological conditions, and that this process prevents any one species from overwhelming its competitors. Competitive impacts may be inter- and intraspecific. It is therefore apparent that the death of organisms such as adult fish during severe drought conditions, though traumatic for human onlookers and commercial interests, may be merely a regular occurrence to which the ecosystem is adapted. The variability of climatic conditions thereby provides a direct influence on the maintenance of biological diversity, and it is this very biodiversity that provides the ecosystem with the resilience to respond to environmental changes in both the short and the longer term.

Environmental variables and fisheries diversity of the Naaf River Estuary, Bangladesh

The Naaf River estuary is one of the large estuaries in the Bangladesh coastal region not to have been affected by extensive human disturbance. This research provides information about the fisheries diversity status by Estuarine Set Bag Net (ESBN) sampling relation to physicochemical variables in both spatio-temporal scales. About 25 km of the lower estuary was divided into six zones for sample collection by considering the accessibility and availability of the ESBN operation, fish landing centers and location of the fishing villages. In total 48 samples have been analyzed which were taken throughout March to October 2006. To quantify the species diversity, all fisheries data were analyzed by using EstimateS and EcoSim software which accounts the different diversity indices viz., species richness, Shannon–Wiener diversity Index, Dominance and Evenness index. The research results demonstrate that the Naaf River estuary is a habitat of 161 (species richness, Sobs=161, Choa 1=162±2.34, ACE=161.73) different species which belong to 98 fin fishes, 23 shrimps and prawns,13 crabs, 11 molluscs, 3 echinoderms, 4 other crustaceans;while 9 remain unidentified. Results on the aquatic environment,mainly salinity and turbidity were found to have a major influence on their occurrence and distribution. All the findings indicated that the Naaf River estuary is a highly productive system and provides a favourable environment for large variety of estuarine species assemblages.

The diversity and ecological role of protozoa in fresh waters

Protozoa feed on and regulate the abundance of most types of aquatic microorganisms, and they are an integral part of all aquatic microbial food webs. Being so small, aerobic protozoa thrive at low oxygen tensions, where they feed (largely unaffected by metazoan grazing) on the abundance of other microorganisms. In anaerobic environments, they are the only phagotrophic organisms, and they live in unique symbiotic consortia with methanogens, sulphate reducers and non-sulphur purple bacteria. The number of extant species of protozoa may be quite modest (the global number of ciliate species is estimated at 3000), and most of them probably have cosmopolitan distributions. This will undoubtedly make it easier to carry out further tasks, e.g. understanding the role of protozoan species diversity in the natural environment.