Importância da hidroconectividade e do banco de ovos de resistência na recolonização de ambientes costeiros por organismos zooplanctônicos

Abstract

Small-sized pools next to coastal lakes may serve as refuge for organisms during unfavorable environmental conditions in the lakes, due to sporadic connections between all aquatic systems. We assessed the importance of environmental variables and of the hydrological connectivity for the structure of zooplankton communities in three saline lagoons and 15 adjacent pools from Brazil. We also evaluated the role of the resting egg bank in the recolonization of the zooplankton community in one coastal lagoon. Zooplankton and environmental variables were collected during one year (2010–2011) and the resting egg bank was collected in August 2010 in the Garça system. NMS analyses using a Bray-Curtis index showed that the pools were more similar between each other than between the lagoons, regardless of the season (dry or rainy). A RDA showed that salinity and pH were the main structuring factors of communities in all lagoon systems. The beta-diversity index demonstrated that the lagoons had a higher temporal turnover. In the Garça system, the pools showed richer egg banks than the lagoon and 45% of the species recorded in the lake’s active community were founded in the pools. Although lagoons and pools were not more similar in the rainy season, the connectivity seems to have a major role due to the presence of freshwater species in the lakes, that were also found in the pools. This fact, plus the lower beta diversity showed by pools suggest that dispersal is not limited. The high contribution of the active and dormant communities of the pools for Garça lake’s active community shows the potential of these environments in the maintenance and recolonization of zooplankton community in this system.