Macroinvertebrate communities and the relationships with biotic factors in river-connected lakes in the lower reaches of Yangtze River, China

The relationships of macroinvertebrate communities with abiotic factors in lake and river system were well documented, but their relationships with biotic factors were few explored. The macroinvertebrate communities in two river-disconnected lakes (Poyang Lake and Shijiu Lake) and the rivers connected to Shijiu Lake were investigated to reveal the differences in communities and explore the relationships with biotic factors. A total of 34 species were recorded in the three water bodies. Combined with the previous study results, the dominant species in Poyang Lake is almost unchanged since 1997. Mollusks were dominated in abundance in Poyang Lake and the rivers connected to Shijiu Lake, while oligochaetes dominated the communities in Shijiu Lake. The alpha diversity indices of macroinvertebrates in Poyang Lake and the rivers connected to Shijiu Lake were distinctly higher than that of Shijiu Lake, and the beta diversity index of Shijiu Lake was the highest, supporting the rules that alpha diversity of macroinvertebrates achieves a maximum at a moderate level of connectivity and beta diversity seems to be higher when the connectivity is weaker. The differences in communities were significant between the Poyang Lake and Shijiu Lake, while the differences in the Poyang Lake and the rivers connected to Shijiu Lake were not significant. According to the results of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), protozoon densities and phytoplankton biomass affected the distribution of macroinvertebrates in Shijiu Lake. Species number of planktonic crustaceans influenced the distribution of macroinvertebrates in rivers connected to Shijiu Lake, while species number of rotifer and densities of phytoplankton distinctly impacted on the distribution of macroinvertebrates in Poyang Lake.