Import and export fluxes of macrozooplankton are taxa- and season-dependent at Jiuduansha marsh, Yangtze River estuary

• Fluxes of zooplankton were firstly studied in an Asian salt marsh.
• The marsh was mainly a source for decapods etc. and a sink for copepods etc.
• The role of salt marshes as sinks or sources for zooplankton are time-dependent.
• This taxa- and time-dependent pattern is mainly related to the animal life history.

Macrozooplankton may play important roles in influencing nutrient exchange between salt marsh and nearby estuarine ecosystems through predator-prey interactions and their transport by tidal flows. In this study, macrozooplankton transport through year-round monthly sampling was investigated in a salt marsh creek of the Yangtze River estuary. Twenty-one orders of macrozooplankton were captured. Calanoida and Decapoda were dominant and numerically comprised 59.59% and 37.59% respectively of the total captured macrozooplankton throughout the year. Decapoda mainly occurred in April, May and June. In other months, the Calanoida contributed over 90% of the total individuals. The annual Ferrari index (I) for total individual number of macrozooplankton was 0.27, which generally supports the viewpoint that salt marshes are sources of zooplankton. The salt marsh was mainly a source for decapods and mysids, possibly because of larval release in their breeding seasons. The marsh was also a source for amphipods, probably because some benthic forms became transient planktonic forms during tidal water flushing. Copepods and fish larvae exhibited net import into the salt marsh, which may result from predation from salt marsh settlers or retention in the salt marsh. Monthly Ferrari index (I) estimations revealed that the role of the salt marsh as a sink or source of macrozooplankton was time-dependent, which is related to the life history of animals. This study showed that whether the salt marsh zooplankton act as energy importers or exporters is group/taxa-dependent and time-dependent.