The species composition of the zooplankton community of Shirazi Bay, Kenya was studied in 1998. A total of 30 samples were analyzed. Chlorophyll a, biological oxygen demand and dissolved oxygen concentrations were also determined each time, and were later used to analyse the species data. Maximum values of zooplankton abundance were reported in mid-April (1161 ± 169 indiv. m"3), and the lowest was at the end of April (300 ± 35 indiv. m3). Total abundance of zooplankton varied from 911 ± 165 indiv. m3 in station 3 to 262 ± 54 indiv. m"3 in station 5. The most important taxa encountered included: Calanoida, Brachyura, Oikolpeura, Amphipoda, Mysidaceae, Polychaeta and Chaetognatha. Calanoida was the most dominant taxon sampled and it made up 46% of the total zooplankton abundance. Correspondence Canonical Analysis was used to determine the correlation between the environmental variables and the species data. The correlation between them, determined by the Monte Carlo Permutation test was found to be significant (p < 0.1 ), and the variation in the data explained by the environmental variables was 0.28. Canonical analysis showed that seasonal evolution of zooplankton is related to chlorophyll a and BOD concentration, but was very weakly related to dissolved oxygen. No spatial changes in the zooplankton composition was revealed, but there were temporal changes in zooplankton community structure which were probably related to increase in nutrient influx during the rainy season. ANOVA was also used to determine whether there was a significant difference in zooplankton abundance between the sampling dates and stations. No significant difference was revealed between the different sampling stations but there was a significant difference between the sampling dates (p < 0.1).
Dataset
Anyango C.; Daro N.; Ecological Marine Management Programme (ECOMAMA); Laboratorium voor Ecologie en Systematiek; Vakgroep Biologie; Faculteit Wetenschappen. VUB: Belgium; (2016): Zooplankton community of Shirazi bay (Kenya) sampled between April and December 1998., more
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