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The zooplankton of eight restored peridunal ponds located in L’Albufera Natural Park (Valencia, Spain) was sampled fortnightly from November 2006 to July 2007 to study the effect of hydroperiod, restoration and other environmental variables in the zooplankton community structure. Ponds with different hydroperiods were selected: two permanent ponds, two temporary ponds with a long hydroperiod (> 6 months a year) and four temporary ponds with short hydroperiod (< 6 months). The time since they were restored was also different: two of them were only modied; some were restored in the 1990s, and others were regenerated in recent years (2004-05). The results showed great heterogeneity in the zooplankton community, most probably due to the strong differences in some limnological variables (mainly conductivity and depth). The dominant group, in terms of density, were the copepods in four ponds, mainly because the high densities of nauplii and copepodites; the rotifers in three; and cladocerans only in one pond. However, the rotifers presented the highest cumulative richness in all the systems. Species richness in the permanent ponds was higher than in the temporary ones. The main environmental variables affecting the community composition were depth, highly related to permanence of water, restoration time and conductivity.

The zooplankton of eight restored peridunal ponds located in L’Albufera Natural Park (Valencia, Spain) was sampled fortnightly from November 2006 to July 2007 to study the effect of hydroperiod, restoration and other environmental variables in the zooplankton community structure. Ponds with different hydroperiods were selected: two permanent ponds, two temporary ponds with a long hydroperiod (> 6 months a year) and four temporary ponds with short hydroperiod (< 6 months). The time since they were restored was also different: two of them were only modied; some were restored in the 1990s, and others were regenerated in recent years (2004-05). The results showed great heterogeneity in the zooplankton community, most probably due to the strong differences in some limnological variables (mainly conductivity and depth). The dominant group, in terms of density, were the copepods in four ponds, mainly because the high densities of nauplii and copepodites; the rotifers in three; and cladocerans only in one pond. However, the rotifers presented the highest cumulative richness in all the systems. Species richness in the permanent ponds was higher than in the temporary ones. The main environmental variables affecting the community composition were depth, highly related to permanence of water, restoration time and conductivity.