Temperature Rising (Two Celsius) Effect on Planktonic Biomass in Subtropical Marshes, Iraq

Planktonic species may respond to climate change through their niche across three axes which include self, space and time. This study was designed to investigate the effect of increasing winter temperature on the plankton biomass, the mesocosm was constructed as a collection of 16 enclosures with a water-outlet system and natural sediment, two aquatic plant species and heating system. This research was conducted over 12 weeks (beginning on Dec. 2018) when the temperature of eight enclosures was 2±0.2 °C higher than the ambient temperature. Weekly abiotic parameters (salinity, pH, PO4, NO3, DIC) and biotic (chlorophyll-a, zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass) were reported. The obtained results showed that there were no major improvements in salinity, pH, PO4, NO3 and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Whereas, chlorophyll-a, zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass have dramatically improved. Therefore, this research has indicated that water temperature change during the winter season due to climate change could affect planktonic biomass and early spring in subtropical marshes, but this study was performed in the mesocosm experiment and it needs to be studied in large-scale natural lake ecosystems.