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d <br />Abstract <br />This study compares microcrustacean densities and species occurrence of benthic <br />and planktonic copepods and cladocerans in backwater, river channel, and floodplain <br />habitats of the Green River, Utah. Samples were taken during the summer of 1991. <br />Samples were taken using a 1.27 cm diameter benthic core sampler and vertical <br />plankton tows with a 63 micron plankton net. In all, 28 species were collected. The <br />copepods are represented by six species of cyclopoids, six species of calanoids, and <br />two species of harpacticoids. Fourteen species of cladocerans were collected. The <br />highest densities were found in the floodplain. Benthic densities ranged from 4,896- <br />23,059/m2 in backwater habitats, 948-b,138/m2 in river habitat, and 85,812- <br />262,808/m2 in the floodplain habitat. Plankton densities ranged from 1,450-63,353/m3 <br />in the backwater, 317-1,312/m3 in the river, and 205,923-690,187/m3 in the <br />floodplain. A comparison of the first sample periods for the floodplain (June), the <br />Ouray backwater (July), and river sites (July) indicate that the density of the benthos <br />was 41 times greater in the floodplain than in the other habitats and the plankton <br />density in the floodplain was 29 times greater than the backwater and 157 times <br />greater than the river. <br />Key words: Microcrustaceans, zooplankton, benthos, floodplain, river, backwater, <br />Cladocera, Copepoda, Green River. <br />