Search for Environmental Causation of the Cladoceran Dynamics in Lake Kinneret, Israel

Abstract

Ten years of monthly dataset of cladoceran (Diaphanosoma sp., Bosmina spp., Ceriodaphnia spp.) density in Lake Kinneret (spatially scattered lake sampling stations), Israel, was studied with the aim of searching impact factors controlling their dynamics. Statistical regressions indicated that out of several environmental factors (among others, non-pyrrhophyte algal biomass, invertebrate predation) only temperature factor was relevant. Additional speculative assumptions of zooplanktivore fish predation suggest this factor as a significant impact on cladoceran dynamics.