Zooplankton Abundances in Vegetated and Nonvegetated Areas: Implications for Fisheries Management

A 5-month series of biweekly metazoan zooplankton samples from vegetated and unvegetated littoral areas and their respective adjacent limnetic areas was collected from Lake Fayetteville, Arkansas. No significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in densities of Rotatoria and Cladocera were detected among any of the sample areas. However, densities of Copepoda in the vegetated littoral area were significantly less than those associated with the unvegetated littoral area. Predation by littoral-dwelling planktivorous fishes on copepods is suggested. This study further suggests that the trophic foundation of the fishery provided by euplanktonic zooplankton is not functionally inhibited by the presence of macrophytes in this system.