Ten high mountain ponds in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State, were
studied from June through September 1992 to investigate the influences of fluctuating
pond volumes on zooplankton communities. A temporary pond of short wet phase
duration was inhabited by zooplankton taxa with short generation times and a crustacean
taxa with the ability to encyst as drought-resistant resting bodies at immature stages of
development. Relative to permanent ponds, rotifer densities typically were low in
temporary ponds, although Brachionus urceolaris was abundant shortly before the ponds
dried. High volume loss was associated with declining populations of crustaceans.
Daphnia rosea was not present in the crustacean communities of temporary ponds after fall
recharge. Deep-permanent ponds had slower copepod development and two additional
large bodied crustacean taxa relative to shallow-permanent ponds. Because of their small
sizes and sensitivity to environmental change, ponds such as these may provide an early
signal of changes in aquatic systems from global warming. / Graduation date: 1994
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/35642 |
| Date | 06 April 1994 |
| Creators | Girdner, Scott F. |
| Contributors | Larson, Gary L. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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