Abstract
The communities of planktonic Rotifera in thirty localities in Ethiopia were examined. All the localities lay at altitudes of over 1100 m and some were over 2000 m. The salinities ranged from 0.12 to 56.3% and in those lakes with salinities over 2% there was a marked reduction in the number of rotifer species, with Brachionus dimidiatus the most frequently dominant. The mean momentary species number in these Ethiopian samples is significantly higher than the means given by Pennak (1947) for Colorado and the rest of the world. Long-term planktonic species numbers in lakes Ziway and Awasa were about three times the mean momentary species number. The dominance ratios in the samples ranged from 19 to 91, but in general were lower than those given by Pennak. The most frequently dominant species were members of the family Brachionidae. Comparison with the data of Tonolli (1962) on the Lago Maggiore indicates that more data are needed on species diversity and dominance before valid geographical comparisons can be made.
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Green, J., Mengestou, S. Specific diversity and community structure of Rotifera in a salinity series of Ethiopian inland waters. Hydrobiologia 209, 95–106 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00006921
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00006921