Copepod Assemblages at the Base of Mangrove Food Webs during a Severe Drought

The effect of severe drought on the functional groups that sustain the base of the mangrove food webs in semi-arid areas is largely unknown. We therefore analyzed the intra-annual variation in the assemblages and functional groups of copepods in a shallow, low-inflow estuary of the Brazilian semi-ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) 2022-11, Vol.14 (22), p.3648
Main Authors: Campos, Carolina Coelho, de Sousa Barroso, Hortência, Belmonte, Genuario, Rossi, Sergio, Soares, Marcelo Oliveira, Garcia, Tatiane Martins
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Annual variations
Cluster analysis
Copepoda
Copepods
Distribution
Drought
Droughts
Environmental aspects
Estuaries
Food chains
Food webs
Functional groups
Identification and classification
Mangrove plants
Phytoplankton
Plankton
Seasonal variations
Semi arid areas
Spawning
Strategy
Vertical migrations
Zooplankton
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Summary:The effect of severe drought on the functional groups that sustain the base of the mangrove food webs in semi-arid areas is largely unknown. We therefore analyzed the intra-annual variation in the assemblages and functional groups of copepods in a shallow, low-inflow estuary of the Brazilian semi-arid coast when the most severe drought ever occurred. The lowest density was found in April (upstream region) and the highest in August (downstream region). Three main functional groups were identified, sorted by spawning strategy, and further subdivided according to feeding strategy, trophic regime, and diel vertical migration behavior. The community was significantly influenced by the extreme drought period, presenting a temporal homogenization in terms of composition, and an expressive and unexpected increase in density in the dry period, possibly due to phytoplankton blooms resistant to hypersalinity and the occurrence of copepod species adapted to stressful conditions. The few stress-tolerant species sustaining the food webs with seasonal variations were observed simplifying the trophic variability. The results indicate that hypersalinity can induce changes in the zooplankton community, increasing copepod mortality risk and, so, promoting alteration in the trophic estuarine dynamic.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w14223648