Summer assessment of zooplankton biodiversity and environmental control in urban waterbodies on the Island of Montréal

Abstract

Waterbodies in urban environments are usually built or maintained to serve socioeconomic functions. However, they also represent ecosystems that can contribute notably to urban biodiversity. To better understand contribution to biodiversity of urban ecosystems, the variation in zooplankton community composition in 19 waterbodies across the Island of Montréal (Québec, Canada) was monitored across three summer months. Communities were dissimilar between and within waterbodies with species richness differences and replacement patterns playing equal parts in shaping the observed variation. Within each waterbody, notable differences were detected between months, which can affect biodiversity estimation or community composition assessment. Zooplankton species richness was especially well explained by macrophyte cover, which had a positive effect. Compositional differences were also explained by macrophyte cover and by waterbody emptying. Partitioning the beta diversity revealed that only richness difference patterns were explained by macrophyte cover, as species replacement patterns were not explained by any of the measured environmental variables.