Zooplankton Monitoring in Zingster Strom

The sampling strategy was designed to capture both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the zooplankton assemblage across monthly intervals. On a single day of each month, two complementary water samples were collected.

A 1 L “full sample” was obtained to provide a quantitative representation of the ambient zooplankton community. In parallel, a 5 L “net sample” was collected and concentrated using a plankton net to enhance the detection of less abundant or larger-bodied organisms that may be underrepresented in smaller volumes. The monitored taxa comprise a broad spectrum of zooplankton groups, including copepods (e.g., Eurytemora affinis, Acartia tonsa, Temora), cladocerans (e.g., Bosmina, Daphnia-like taxa such as Diaphanosoma), rotifers (e.g., Keratella, Brachionus, Filinia, Polyarthra), and various meroplanktonic larvae such as polychaete larvae, as well as early life stages of mollusks (bivalves and gastropods).