Influence of floating macrophyte on microcrustaceans planktonic

Abstract

Trophic interactions between organisms of tropical aquatic environments are more complex than in cold and temperate lakes, due to higher species richness that provides intense trophic interactions. In tropical habitats, there is a many shallow and small lakes that are considered important for studies of zooplankton populations since they have a high richness and diversity of species. Based on observations of zooplankton communities associated with macrophytes in littoral shallow ponds, this paper aims to verify experimentally if the presence of macrophytes can influence the occupation of planktonic microcrustaceans in shallow lentic environments. The experiment will be conducted on Setor de Carcinicultura do CAUNESP, na Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias - UNESP, campus de Jaboticabal. Twelve tanks will be used for two treatments: the presence of the macrophyte species Eichhornia azurea in the coastal zone and the absence of macrophytes. After an acclimatization period, the zooplankton samples will be taken with the pumping of water, using a suction pump and a plankton net, both in the limnetic zone and in the littoral zone of the tanks. Environmental data will also be evaluated, such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, total nitrogen and phosphorus, suspended matter, and chlorophyll. To test the hypothesis that the presence of macrophytes in the littoral zone influences the populations of zooplankton, the differences between the densities of the zooplankton community in both treatments will be checked by comparing the data with a t-test.(AU)