Monsoon-Driven Environmental Gradients Structure Seasonal Mesozooplankton Community Turnover in the Moheshkhali Channel, a Subtropical Estuary in Bangladesh

Monsoon-Driven Environmental Gradients Structure Seasonal Mesozooplankton Community Turnover in the Moheshkhali Channel, a Subtropical Estuary in Bangladesh | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Monsoon-Driven Environmental Gradients Structure Seasonal Mesozooplankton Community Turnover in the Moheshkhali Channel, a Subtropical Estuary in Bangladesh Md. Sharif Hossain, Omite Ashraf Tihum, Md. Bayzid, Md. Azizul Fazal, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9023001/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Mesozooplankton play a key role in estuarine food webs, yet their seasonal community dynamics and environmental controls remain poorly resolved in monsoon-driven subtropical estuaries. This study investigated seasonal variations in mesozooplankton community composition and their relationships with environmental drivers in the Moheshkhali Channel, southeastern Bangladesh. Sampling was conducted at five stations across monsoon, winter, and pre-monsoon seasons, and zooplankton assemblages were analyzed using community indices and multivariate approaches. A total of 25 mesozooplankton taxa were recorded, with copepods dominating across all seasons. Community composition differed significantly among seasons, with monsoon assemblages characterized by higher contributions of larval and transient taxa associated with elevated turbidity and temperature, while winter and pre-monsoon communities overlapped under more stable hydrographic conditions. Multivariate analyses identified salinity, turbidity, and temperature as the primary environmental drivers shaping mesozooplankton assemblages, highlighting the role of freshwater–marine mixing in structuring seasonal community turnover. These results demonstrate that seasonal changes in mesozooplankton communities are driven more by species turnover than by changes in overall abundance or diversity. By emphasizing species-specific responses to environmental gradients, this study provides new ecological insight into estuarine mesozooplankton dynamics and establishes a baseline for long-term monitoring and management of subtropical estuaries in the Bay of Bengal. Zooplankton Seasonal variation Community structure Multivariate analysis Moheshkhali Channel Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Zooplankton.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9023001","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":604484891,"identity":"28aad145-c0d5-41a4-bdd2-d4b68e031216","order_by":0,"name":"Md. 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This study investigated seasonal variations in mesozooplankton community composition and their relationships with environmental drivers in the Moheshkhali Channel, southeastern Bangladesh. Sampling was conducted at five stations across monsoon, winter, and pre-monsoon seasons, and zooplankton assemblages were analyzed using community indices and multivariate approaches. A total of 25 mesozooplankton taxa were recorded, with copepods dominating across all seasons. Community composition differed significantly among seasons, with monsoon assemblages characterized by higher contributions of larval and transient taxa associated with elevated turbidity and temperature, while winter and pre-monsoon communities overlapped under more stable hydrographic conditions. 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