Factors influencing zooplankton populations in Alaskan sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) nursery lakes: insights from limnological and paleolimnological analyses

Abstract

The relative importance of sockeye salmon, invertebrate predators, and other environmental factors in structuring the size and abundance of zooplankton populations was examined in a series of 23 lakes from southern Alaska. Zooplankton abundance was strongly related to sockeye density, along with nutrient availability and alkalinity. The mean size of Bosmina longirostris, the dominant herbivorous cladoceran, was positively correlated with the abundance of the predatory copepod, Cyclops columbianus. Changes in the size and abundance of Bosmina remains over the past 300-500 years were then determined for sediments from two lakes on Kodiak Island, Alaska. The zooplankton communities showed varying responses to past changes in salmon populations, resulting from relative changes in the magnitude of adult salmon-derived nutrient loading and in predation pressure from juvenile sockeye and cyclopoid copepods. Knowledge of how various factors impact zooplankton can have important implications for the effective management of sockeye within these lake systems.