Zooplankton diversity of three dam lakes in Turkey

Abundance, community composition, diversity and density of zooplankton were analysed in Tercan, Kuzgun and Demirdöven Dam Lakes between January-December 2014 seasonally. During the study period a total of 38 zooplankton species have been observed, with 25 species of Rotifera, and 8 species of Cladocera and 5 species of Copepoda. 28 species in Tercan Dam Lake, 26 species in Kuzgun Dam Lake and 27 species in Demirdöven Dam Lake were identified. Rotifers were the dominant group among zooplankton community, constituting 65.7% of the total zooplankton population. The highest (H′=2.75) and the lowest (H′=0.68) Shannon diversity index values were recorded at Demirdöven Dam Lake. And also the highest value of Simpson index (D=11.63) was recorded in Demirdöven Dam Lake indicating low species dominance in spring. Pielou evenness (J) index value was showed its maximum value with 0.98 indicating uniformity in zooplankton community.