Zooplankton recovery from a whole‐lake disturbance: Examining roles of abiotic factors, biotic interactions, and traits

Community assembly following disturbance is a key process in determining the composition and function of the future community. However, replicated studies of community assembly at whole ecosystem scales are rare. Here, we describe a series of whole-lake experiments in which the recovery of zooplankton communities was tracked following an ecosystem-scale disturbance, i.e., application of the piscicide, rotenone. Using a BACI design, fourteen lakes in eastern Washington were studied: seven lakes were treated with rotenone, while seven lakes acted as reference systems. Each lake was monitored up to six months before and one to two years after the rotenone treatments. Zooplankton samples and environmental measurements were collected approximately monthly from each lake. Community responses following disturbance were assessed using metrics of abundance, diversity, and community composition, as well as taxonomic group abundance. Zooplankton recovery was also assessed using species trait..., Data were collected between 2014 and 2016 in a set of 14 lakes in eastern Washington state. Seven lakes served as references, while seven lakes were treated with rotenone in either fall 2014 or fall 2015. Monthly samples were collected for water quality parameters (water temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, pH, Secchi depth; the first four parameters at 1-m intervals from the deepest spot in the lake) and crustacean zooplankton (vertical integrated tows from the bottom to the surface; from three locations). In July of each sampling year, an integrated water sample of the epilimnion was collected for nutrient analysis.  Crustacean zooplankton samples from each date-lake combination were combined, weighting by volume of net tows, and were identified and enumerated using microscopy. See paper for additional details. Fish stocking densities were obtained from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Zooplankton were analyzed with several metrics, including abun..., When monthly samples were not taken, an empty line of NA values are included so that figures show gaps appropriately. A README file is included that describes the R scripts and associated datasets.干扰后的群落组装是决定未来群落组成与功能的核心过程。然而，全生态系统尺度下的重复群落组装研究仍较为罕见。本研究介绍了一系列全湖实验：在施加杀鱼剂鱼藤酮（rotenone）这一全生态系统尺度干扰后，追踪浮游动物（zooplankton）群落的恢复过程。本研究采用BACI设计（BACI design），选取华盛顿州东部的14个湖泊开展实验：其中7个湖泊施加鱼藤酮处理，剩余7个作为对照系统。每个湖泊在处理前开展最长6个月的监测，并在处理后开展1至2年的追踪监测。我们约每月从各湖泊采集浮游动物样本与环境测量数据，从丰度、多样性、群落组成以及分类群丰度等维度评估干扰后的群落响应，并基于物种性状分析浮游动物的恢复情况…… 本数据集采集于2014至2016年间，涵盖华盛顿州东部的14个湖泊。其中7个湖泊为对照，另外7个分别于2014年秋季或2015年秋季施加鱼藤酮处理。我们每月采集水质参数数据（包括水温、溶解氧（dissolved oxygen）、比电导率（specific conductance）、pH值、塞氏盘透明度（Secchi depth）；前四项参数在湖泊最深处以1米间隔分层采集）以及甲壳类浮游动物（crustacean zooplankton）样本（从3个采样点开展底表垂直整合拖网采样）。每个采样年的7月，采集上层滞水层（epilimnion）的整合水样用于营养盐分析。将每个采样日期-湖泊组合的甲壳类浮游动物样本按拖网体积加权合并后，通过显微镜进行物种鉴定与计数。详细信息请参见相关论文。鱼类放养密度数据源自华盛顿州鱼类与野生动物部（Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife）。 浮游动物的分析采用多项指标，包括丰度…… 若某一月份未采集样本，则以NA值填充空行，以确保图表能够正确显示采样间隙。 本数据集附带README文件，用于说明R脚本与关联数据集。