Hidden Beneath the Ice: Actively Overwintering Zooplankton Populations
Ben Block
Abstract
Freshwater lakes in winter are a historically uncharted territory. Scientists have failed to acknowledge the importance of winter limnology, and thus, a blatant knowledge gap needs to be filled. To understand the uniqueness of freshwater lakes requires studying the aquatic food web from the bottom up by identifying zooplankton species present in winter. This meta-analysis was conducted by analyzing data regarding the taxonomy and abundance of actively overwintering zooplankton species. Temperate and alpine lakes, or those above 45°N latitude were included in this meta-analysis. To compare winter-to-summer abundances, a ratio was produced and then correlated with abiotic factors associated with the data. Results showed that actively overwintering zooplankton communities were present in freshwater lakes; however, as expected, these communities were of lower abundances in winter than in summer. Future research should synthesize these results and correlate them with causal factors. Additionally, this meta-analysis shows that zooplankton overwinter in the water column and should contribute to winter food webs. Whether winter food webs are identical to summer food webs remains to be addressed.
