TITLE:
Ecophysiology of Lake Kinneret (Israel) Zooplankton
AUTHORS:
Moshe Gophen
KEYWORDS:
Kinneret, Zooplankton, Ecophysiology, Food-Web
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.5 No.5,
May
20,
2015
ABSTRACT: A summary of a
long-term research of Lake Kinneret zooplankton distribution is presented. During
1969-2002 several prominent changes have been recorded in the Kinneret
ecosystem. This paper is an attempt aimed at analyzing the impact of these
ecological changes on the zooplankton communities. The impacts of Phytoplankton,
Bacteria, Protozoa, Temperature, Nutrient composition and fish predation on zooplankton
dynamics are analyzed. It was found that periodical fluctuations of zooplankton
density were mostly affected by fish predation as well as by temperature
increase and food availability. Ecological conditions in Lake Kinneret have
been modified since early 1990’s and the new conditions were consequently
accompanied by zooplankton Homeostatic response. Moreover, as a result of the
ecological changes fish intensified their pressure on zoo-plankton. The flexibility
of food resource preference by zooplankton enabled its existence but fish
predation predominantly controlled their density.