Author(s)

Delaram Golmarvi¹, Maryam Fallahi Kapourchali^2*, Ali Mashinchian Moradi¹, Mohammadreza Fatemi¹, Rezvan Mousavi Nadoshan¹

¹Department of Marine Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
²Inland water Aquaculture Center, Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute (IFSRI), Agricultural Research Education and Exten-sion Organization (AREEO), Bandar-e Anzali, Iran.

Anzali International wetland is located in the south coast of the Caspian Sea. Physicochemical analysis and zooplankton survey of the wetland were carried out on monthly basis for the period of one year from January 2012 to December 2013 at 9 different stations of Anzali wetland and its related channel to the Caspian Sea. Water temperature of the wetland followed more or less similar trend as that of air temperature. pH determined alkaline nature of the wetland ranging between 7.05 to 9.47, dissolved oxygen was recorded in the range of 3.36 mg/l to 10.51 mg/l while other parameters recorded were water temperature (10 to 23 C), Nitrate (0.48 to 4.36 mg/l), Total Phosphates (0.15 to 0.67 mg/l), Salinity (220 to 692 mg/l), Electrical Conductivity (235 to 1369 μs/cm), TDS (246 to 1971 mg/l), BOD (2 to 36 mg/l) and COD (4 to 74 mg/l). During study period, total 60 species of zooplankton were identified in four main groups such as Protozoa (22 sp.), Rotifera (29 sp.), Copepoda (5 sp.) and Cladocera (4 sp.). The highest numbers of zooplankton were recorded in summer months and lowest in winter which is the second rainy season of this area. The water body is receiving domestic discharge, agricultural run-off and industrial wastes leading to large amount of nutrient inputs to the ecosystem which indicates the eutrophic statue of the wetland. The aim of present study was to investigate the interrelationship between physicochemical factors and zooplankton population in context of their seasonal abundance.

Physicochemical Factors, Zooplankton Population, Seasonal Abundance, Anzali Wetland

Golmarvi, D. , Kapourchali, M. , Moradi, A. , Fatemi, M. and Nadoshan, R. (2017) Influence of Physico-Chemical Factors, Zooplankton Species Biodiversity and Seasonal Abundance in Anzali International Wetland, Iran. Open Journal of Marine Science, 7, 91-99. doi: 10.4236/ojms.2017.71007.