Multivariate Analysis of Rotifer Community and Environmental Factors Using the Decomposed Components Extracted from a Time Series

Abstract

Zooplankton abundance patterns exhibit apparent seasonality depending on seasonal variations in water temperature. To analyze the abundance patterns of zooplankton communities, it is necessary to consider the environmental factors that are essential for zooplankton community succession. However, this approach is challenging due to the seasonal variability of environmental factors. In this study, all rotifer species inhabiting a water body were classified into three groups based on their abundance and frequency of occurrence, and decomposition method was used to classify them into groups that exhibit seasonal vs. non-seasonal variability. Multivariate analysis was performed on the seasonal, trend, and random components derived from the classical decomposition method of zooplankton abundance and related environmental factors. This approach provided more precise results and higher explanatory power for the correlations between rotifer communities and environmental factors, which cannot be clarified with a simple abundance-based approach. Using this approach, we analyzed the seasonality-based patterns of the abundance of rotifer species by dividing the environmental factors into those associated with seasonal and non-seasonal variabilities. Overall, the results demonstrated that the explanatory power of redundancy analysis was higher when using the three time series components than when using undecomposed abundance data.

Keywords

• zooplankton succession
• seasonal variability
• rotifer abundance