Relationships between zooplankton biomass and environmental factors of Xiaoxingkai Lake in northeastern China

Zooplankton biomass and water environment factors in Xiaoxingkai Lake were investigated, and the correlation between biomass and water environment factors was performed using the Pearson correlation analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA). The results showed that the highest zooplankton biomass was recorded in summer and the lowest in spring. Water depth, transparency (SD), electric conductivity, and total nitrogen were the highest in spring, while temperature and total phosphorus were the highest in summer. The values of pH and turbidity were the highest in autumn, while chloride ion and chlorophyll a were the highest in winter. During the spring period, Protozoa were positively correlated with conductivity, transparency (SD), and total nitrogen. While Rotifera demonstrated a strong correlation with turbidity, pH, temperature, and total phosphorus in summer and autumn seasons, and Cladocera were correlated with water depth. There were negative correlations of chlorophyll a and chlorine on Copepoda during the winter. RDA results displayed that zooplankton had strong relationships with the physicochemical characteristics in Xiaoxingkai Lake.