Description:
<p>The crustacean zooplankton community in three acidified lakes may be briefly characterized by the low number of true limnetic species, the virtual absence of large cladocerans and the occurrence of littoral or benthic species in the limnetic samples. The three most common species were the calanoid copepod Eudiaptomus gracilis and the two cladocerans Bosmina coregoni and Diaphanosoma brachyurum, the same species which become dominant in lakes where the fish population has been reduced for reasons other than acidification. Invertebrate predation may be partly responsible for the structure in the zooplankton. Crustacean zooplankton communities in acidified lakes have many properties in common, regardless of the geographic location of the lakes, properties which may be a result of the close similarities in basic regularing factors of abiotic and biotic origin.</p>