Can we improve management practice of floodplain lakes using Cladoceran zooplankton?

Natural resource managers across Australia intend to promote healthy floodplain lake ecosystems with rich diversity and composition of biota because such ecosystems provide economically valuable services to society. However, management practice of these floodplain lake ecosystems is impeded by confounding effects of anthropogenic impacts and natural climate variability in recent decades. Yet, there are a few potential biological markers available that profoundly respond to ecological effects of climate change and human disturbances. Cladoceran zooplankton plays an intermediary role in food web dynamics. They show distinct responses to changes in temperature and environmental perturbations, such as acidification, nutrient loading and salinization. The effects of temperature and land-use changes on food web dynamics and water quality, in particular, are major concerns for shallow lowland large river floodplain lakes management in Australia. Information on zooplankton assemblages and diversity can help increase our understanding of ecological processes in a wide range of environmental exposures. The study of cladoceran fossils and their ephippia preserved in floodplain lake sediment has substantially furthered our understanding of species–environment relationships at different temporal and spatial scales and allowed us to develop powerful inference models for degraded floodplain lake ecosystems. This consequently defines a benchmark of a shift from a naturally intact ecosystem to an ecologically poor regime. In this paper, I have made an attempt to persuade wetland managers through application of contemporary and palaeocladoceran communities to improve management practice of floodplain lake ecosystems in Australia by providing a range of examples. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Lt