The usage of a zooplankton digitization software to study plankton dynamics in freshwater fisheries

Vogelmann, Christian; Teichert, Maxim; Schubert, Michael; Martens, Andreas; Schultes, Sabine und Stibor, Herwig (2022): The usage of a zooplankton digitization software to study plankton dynamics in freshwater fisheries. In: Fisheries Research, Bd. 251, 106326

Abstract

To better understand anthropogenically induced shifts of lake nutrient dynamics and subsequent consequences for fish and their zooplankton food sources, an increased spatial and temporal resolution of zooplankton monitoring data is needed. The Zooscan, an instrument mainly used in marine research, enables digitalization of zooplankton samples, and thereby substantially decreases the effort for zooplankton analysis. We present Zooscan analyses of zooplankton from the water column and in whitefish (Coregonus sp.) stomachs from Lake Starnberg (Germany, Central Europe), a large oligotrophic pre-alpine lake. Digitalized manual and automated analyses of important zooplankton parameters such as abundance, species composition, size development and reproductive measures of different taxa are given. The obtained results from automated and manual Zooscan analyses allow drawing conclusions on population dynamics, size developments and zooplankton food preferences by whitefish. In particular, we highlight the advantages of assessing reproductive cycles based on the documentation of egg-bearing individuals of e.g. cladocerans, which are of less importance in marine environments. While the results of automated analysis of stomach content were generally inaccurate, manual validation of digitized images was efficient for identification. Digitized images offer the possibility of fast access and convenient storage of zooplankton samples.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Biologie
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
• ISSN: 0165-7836
• Sprache: Englisch