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Predation pressure induced by seasonal fishing moratorium changes the dynamics of subtropical Cladocera populations

  • SHALLOW LAKE ECOSYSTEMS
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Abstract

Seasonal fishing moratorium with selective fish harvesting is a common means of increasing fish production in Asia. Such manipulation might be expected to lead to a seasonal variation in abundance and composition of fish and predation pressure on zooplankton, and consequently a seasonal change in the Cladocera populations. In this study, we examined the seasonal dynamics of cladocerans in a subtropical plateau lake in southwestern China, Lake Erh, in which a fishing moratorium was implemented in spring and early summer. Cladocerans showed a bimodal seasonal distribution linked to variations in predation pressure induced by the seasonal fishing moratorium. When predation was low in winter because of cool water temperatures and decreasing fish density, Daphnia galeata appeared in the water column and increased towards spring. The cladoceran peaked in the middle of the fishing moratorium, coinciding with a clear water phase. The feeding rate increased with temperature in the late moratorium, allowing planktivorous fish to strongly suppress large daphnids. Small cladocerans benefited from the reduced competition with large daphnids by increasing their numbers rapidly, which resulted in a second peak of cladocerans in the fishing season.

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Acknowledgments

Support from Chinese NSF Grants (31170437 and 30970467) and the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (20094401120009) are appreciated. We are grateful to Prof. Henri Dumont from Gent University in Belgium and Dr. Ken Chan from Australia for providing useful comments on the manuscript. We also thank all colleagues at the Research Center of Lake Erh who assisted with the field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hydrobiology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China

    Qiuqi Lin, Pingping Zhao, Qiuting Wu, Huiming Li & Bo-Ping Han

  2. Research Center of Lake Erh, Dali, China

    Zhihong Wei

Authors
  1. Qiuqi Lin
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  2. Pingping Zhao
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  3. Qiuting Wu
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  4. Zhihong Wei
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  5. Huiming Li
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  6. Bo-Ping Han
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Correspondence to Qiuqi Lin or Bo-Ping Han.

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Guest editors: Zhengwen Liu, Bo-Ping Han & Ramesh D. Gulati / Conservation, management and restoration of shallow lake ecosystems facing multiple stressors

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Lin, Q., Zhao, P., Wu, Q. et al. Predation pressure induced by seasonal fishing moratorium changes the dynamics of subtropical Cladocera populations. Hydrobiologia 710, 73–81 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1260-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1260-4

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