Spencer, Roger W. II (1981)
A Study of Zooplankton Populations in Relation to Microhabitat Differences in the Bernard Field Station Lake.
Bachelor of Science, Pomona College.
Advisor: Larry Oglesby.
Zooplankton are known to have patchy distributions. It was hypothesized by the author that this patchiness could be correlated to phytoplankton patchiness in the water of the Bernard Field Station Lake, or at the very least to larger differences in habitat within the lake. No relationship between variability in plant types and variation in zooplankton populations were found. However, definite patterns relating zooplankton population structure to location in the lake were found. It was found that small species dominated shallow waters around the edges of the lake, and larger species dominated the center of the lake. Furthermore, it was shown that, among the small species, nauplii and copepodids dominated the populations along the western, northen and southern margins of the lake, whereas rotifers were the dominant component of the zooplankton along the east shore and in the marsh at the east end of the lake.