Citation
Krishantha Jayasinghe, R. P. Prabath
(2005)
Tidal Influence On The Physico-Chemical Parameters, Temporal and Spatial Distribution Of Zooplankton in Langat River-Estuarine Area, Malaysia.
Masters thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Abstract
The objectives of present study were to study the water quality, zooplankton
distribution and its community structure along a salinity gradient in Langat
river estuarine system (20 46'N, 1010 26' E), during low and high tides. Five
sampling stations from the coastal area to the upstream were chosen for this
study. Station 1 was in the coastal area while Station 5 was at the most
upstream, the rest of the Stations (Stations 2,3 and 4) are located in between,
passing along the river gradient. Zooplankton and water samples were
collected and analyzed monthly for a period of 12 months (January to
December 2003).
The water quality, nutrients and zooplankton distribution changed according
to the stations and tides. The mean salinity ranged from 32.94k1.20 PSU in coastal waters to 27.78k1.21 PSU in upstream station during high tide.
During low tide, the mean salinity in the most upstream station was as low
as 1.00k0.90 PSU. Higher Dissolved Oxygen values ranged (means of
5.84k0.35 to 7.09k0.13 mgL-1) during high tide and it decreased (means of
3.91k0.71 to 5.22k0.71 mgL-1) during low tide. On the other hand, the
nutrients such as total ammonia nitrogen (ranged from 0.0014k0.001 mgL-1 to
2.5714k0.980 mgL-I), nitrite+nitrate-nitrogen (ranged from 0.0021k0.001
mgL-1 to 0.8100k0.211 mgL-1) and total phosphorus (ranged from
0.0712k0.024 mgL-1 to O.867Ok 0.3241 mgL-l) showed increasing trend from the
coastal areas to the upstream. The highest chlorophyll a was recorded at
Station 3 with mean values of 10.27k0.84 pgL-I and 3.94k1.06 pgL-1 during
high and low tide, respectively.
The mean zooplankton density was lowest in the coastal areas (16.21 x 103
k4679.07 individuals m-3) and highest in Station 4 with a mean value 119.81 x
103k43338.73 individuals m-3 during high tide. Copepods dominated
zooplankton populations contributing >80% in all the stations throughout
the sampling period. The other zooplankton groups such as cnidarians,
appendicularians, polychaetes, ostracods, chaetognaths and shrimp larva
were distributed in coastal estuarine areas whereas echinoderm larvae were
restricted to coastal waters and cladocerans were found only at the upstream
stations (Stations 3-5).This study recorded 50 species of copepods which was dominated by the
calanoids, Acartia spinicauda, A. amboinensis and A. erythraea accounting for
28%, 18% and 11% of the total copepod populations, respectively. High
species diversity occurred in Station 1 decreasing towards the upstream.
Species diversity varied depending on the tides, being higher during high
tides and than low tides. Some copepod species were highly restricted to the
high salinity levels (>30 PSU) while some species could tolerate wide range
of salinity from 5 - >30 PSU. Major stenohaline species was Oithona simplex
and major euryhaline species were Acartia spinicauda, A. amboinensis and A.
erythraea. Zooplankton biomass study showed the highest in station 3 (dry
weight 6l2.3Of 26.31 mg m-3 high tide) and lowest in Station 2 (150.051t 54.71
mg m-3 during low tide).
This study showed that water quality, nutrient concentrations and the
distribution of zooplankton varied according to tides, where high tides
resulted in better water quality, higher zooplankton density and higher
species diversity compared to low tides. On the other hand, water quality
was better and species diversity higher in coastal areas compared to other
stations throughout the sampling period regardless of tides.
Download File
Additional Metadata
Item Type: |
Thesis
(Masters)
|
Subject: |
Zooplankton - Geographical distribution - Langat. |
Subject: |
Water quality biological assessment - Langat. |
Call Number: |
FS 2005 44 |
Chairman Supervisor: |
Professor Fatimah Md. Yusoff, PhD |
Divisions: |
Faculty of Science |
Depositing User: |
Nur Izyan Mohd Zaki
|
Date Deposited: |
12 May 2010 06:34 |
Last Modified: |
19 Oct 2023 07:26 |
URI: |
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6273 |
Statistic Details: |
View Download Statistic |
Actions (login required)
![View Item View Item](/style/images/action_view.png) |
View Item |