Trends in the nearshore zooplankton community in the Indiana waters of Lake Michigan, 1990-1996

Zooplankton samples collected May through August, 1990 to 1996 at site M, 15 m depth in the Indiana waters of Lake Michigan were examined for microcrustaceans, rotifers, and zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) veligers. Abundance numbers per m3 were combined with Coffman's (1995) data to quantify recent trends in the zooplankton.Rotifers dominated the community, with Polyarthra vulgaris, Colurella, Keratella crassa, and K. cochlearis the most prevalent species. Copepods, primarily nauplii and copepodid forms, were the next most abundant taxa. Except for 1994 and 1995, Cladocera abundance was higher than zebra mussel veliger abundance. The cladoceran assemblage was dominated by Bosmina Iongirostris, with very few Daphnia noted. A precipitous decrease in zebra mussels veligers from 1994 to 1996 warrants further investigation to determine the nature and the extent of the population decline.Regression analysis of zebra mussel veliger abundance against abiotic and biotic factors demonstrated veligers varied directly with rotifer abundance and water column temperature and indirectly with cladoceran and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) abundance. A similar regression model of rotifer abundance revealed direct correlation with calanoid, cladoceran, zebra mussel veliger, and yellow perch abundance.Department of BiologyThesis (M.S.