Zooplankton in Advective Environments: The Hudson River Community and a Comparative Analysis

Abstract

The temporal dynamics and spatial distributions of zooplankton in the tidal freshwater portion of the Hudson River were studied over a 3-yr period. We tested the hypothesis that advective transport regulates zooplankton biomass in the Hudson and in lakes, estuaries, and rivers for which we have published values. In the Hudson, zooplankton biomass was negatively correlated with discharge over the entire season (P < 0.0001) as well as during the warmer period of the year (P = 0.007) when biomass was greatest. The spatial distribution of zooplankton over 160-km transects was heterogeneous. Downstream changes in the abundance of a dominant species, Bosmina longirostris, indicate that certain areas of the river support net population growth whereas other areas are population sinks. We infer that zooplankton biomass in the Hudson is a function of the balance between reproduction determined by resources and losses due to advection. Zooplankton biomass differs among lakes, estuaries, and rivers in a manner consistent with the differences in water residence time. Biomass is highest in lakes, lower in saline estuaries and tidal rivers, and lowest in rivers. Advective losses appear to be important in explaining differences between planktonic communities in lentic and lotic environments.