Zooplankton Community Characters And Relationship With Environmental Factors In The Special Marine Reserve Of Zhongjieshan Archipelago

Based on the data from surveys of biological resources and ecological environment inthe waters of the Special Marine Reserve of Zhongjieshan Archipelago from May2011toFebruary2012, zooplankton community characters and relationship with environmentalfactors of this area were studied. Species composition, quantitative distribution andvariation, dominant species, community structure index and relationship withenvironmental factors were preliminarily described and analyzed. The results showed that,Numbers of zooplankton species were significantly different according to the season（P<0.01）. A total of132zooplankton species including21species of larvae were identifiedbelonging to17groups. In spring,45species including10species of larvae were identifiedbelonging to12groups. In summer,72species including16species of larvae wereidentified belonging to15groups. In autumn,80species including13species of larvaewere identified belonging to15groups. In winter,41species including7species of larvaewere identified belonging to10groups.Abundance and biomass of zooplankton were significantly different according to theseason （P<0.01）. The mean abundance of zooplankton were180.36ind/m³,59.77ind/m³,187.96ind/m³and29.09ind/m³, and the mean biomass of zooplankton were222.61mg/m³,69.77mg/m³,138.63mg/m³and22.40mg/m³in spring, summer, autumn and winter,respectively.The dominant zooplankton species were relatively monotonous in spring, i.e. only4dominant species （Calanus sinicus, Sagitta bedoti, Sagitta nagae and Muggiaea atlantica）.But there were9dominant species in summer （mainly warm-water species） and7inautumn. Only3dominant species were seen in winter （Calanus sinicus, Labidooeraenchaeta and Sagitta bedoti）, the least in all the seasons.Results of CCA analyses showed that the zooplankton community structure indifferent seasons was influenced by different environmental factors. The zooplanktoncommunity structure was mainly influenced by salinity （S）, reactive silicate (SiO₄^3-), nitrite（NaNO₂）, dissolved oxygen （DO） and water temperature （T） in spring, by SiO₄^3-, T, S andDO in summer, by SiO₄^3-, T and S in autumn, and by NaNO₃in winter, respectively.