Species diversity and distribution for zooplankton in the inter-tidal wetlands of the Pearl River estuary, China

Abstract Zooplankton is the important component of aquatic ecosystems and has become an important aspect of research in estuarine areas. However, zooplankton species composition and distribution in the inter-tidal wetlands are rarely studied. We investigated the zooplankton communities in the inter-tidal wetlands of the Pearl River estuary during March and April 2009 to study the species diversity and distribution of zooplankton. A total of 132 species of zooplankton were identified among the 39 sampling stations in the inter-tidal wetlands. The results of the research show that zooplankton abundance and biomass fluctuated widely and showed distinct heterogeneity among the different sampling sites. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that the significant spatial variability in the distribution of zooplankton species, abundance and biomass can be significantly affected by changes in the water environment. Distribution of the dominant species varied with the salinity of the sea water, and their amounts correlated negatively with nutrients. This study is important if we are to be able to identify the influence of the environmental characteristics of water on the distribution of zooplankton in the inter-tidal wetlands of estuaries, and it can provide a basis for the evaluation of the quality of inter-tidal wetlands based on zooplankton.