Date of Award
5-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
College/School
College of Science and Mathematics
Department/Program
Marine Biology and Coastal Sciences
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Matt Schuler
Committee Member
Paul Bologna
Committee Member
Colette J. Feehan
Abstract
Wetlands in urban areas provide ecosystem services that benefit the environment and society. Through these services, wetlands are able to help mitigate consequences of human activities such as flooding by increasing permeable surface coverage and contaminant filtering from polluted runoff. One such type of wetland, vernal pools, provide important temporary habitat for many organisms, including myriad zooplankton species. For planktonic organisms, flooding events might be disruptive or allow them to disperse to areas that would be otherwise inaccessible. I observed changing abiotic conditions and zooplankton communities in 20 vernal pools at a wetland in Wayne, New Jersey, USA over a 4-month period, during which the wetland flooded twice. The primary goal was to understand how water quality parameters and zooplankton abundance, average family richness, and diversity change after a flooding event. The abiotic and zooplankton communities changed in response to flooding, although the abiotic changes did not predict changes to the biotic community. The first flood occurred in August and resulted in lower average taxonomic diversity and reduced compositional differences of zooplankton among pools. The second flooding event which occurred in late October increased zooplankton diversity. The increased diversity was likely caused by the flood water coming from warmer water in a large wetland and nearby river with more species of zooplankton than the smaller, colder, vernal pools at the time of flooding. This research suggests the potential importance of the action of seasonal flooding events in determining the effect on zooplankton diversity. In addition, the research indicates a lack of relationship between the zooplankton community and water quality conditions, and that even with the occurrence of flood events, zooplankton communities may be resilient.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Peteroy, Kevin, "Changes in Zooplankton Community Structure in a Wetland Metacommunity Following Homogenization from Flooding" (2024). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1411.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1411