How land use affects freshwater zooplankton communities: a global overview

Abstract

Land use is one of the most important factors affecting biodiversity. In addition to damage to terrestrial environments, negative effects on aquatic environments have been reported in many articles. With this study, we provide a global overview of studies on the effects of land use on freshwater zooplankton communities, carrying out scientometrics and a synthesis of the main knowledge produced in the articles about the topic. After selection, we reached a total of 80. The number of studies has increased over time, especially in the USA, Poland, Canada, China, Argentina and Brazil. Land use for cropland, pasture and urbanization has been shown to have a negative impact on zooplankton communities. The presence of surrounding natural vegetation in aquatic environments has been shown to contribute to greater taxonomic and functional diversity. The effects of land use for mining and the groups of testaceous amoebae, ciliates and flagellates are the least studied. Different landscape metrics have been used, which may be related to different environmental policies in different countries. Finally, we highlight the main gaps so that studies on the effects of land use can advance and contribute to environmental policies for the maintenance and conservation of aquatic biodiversity.