Ecology and Diversity of Freshwater Zooplankton in Laghouat Province (Algeria) and their Relationship with Environmental Factors

Abstract

In order to investigate the distribution and richness of zooplankton on the Wadi M’zi River from November 2018 to October 2019, samples were collected on a monthly basis from four stations. Thirty-three zooplankton species belonging to four taxa have been described from the Wadi M’zi River; Copepoda, Rotifera, Cladocera and Nematoda. The following diversity indexes were used to measure the diversity of zooplankton species in the lake; Shannon Index 3.14 to 3.8, Pielou Evenness Index 0.72 to 0.84 and Margalef Index 1.08 to 1.45. The zooplankton communities were observed to be abundant in spring and summer compared to autumn and winter. Rotifers were found to be dominant followed by copepods, cladocerans and nematods for the entire research duration. CCA analysis indicates that WT, pH, NH4+, NO3-, PO42- and conductivity were responsible for most differences in zooplankton organisms. Finally, we concluded that all sampling area were oligosabrobic indicating the good environmental quality of Wadi M’zi River.