Abstract
Offshore wind farms (OWFs) are rapidly expanding in China's coastal regions. While their ecological impacts on birds and mammals are documented, effects on zooplankton remain poorly understood. In the work, zooplankton communities between near-field (NEAR) and far-field (FAR) were observed comparatively during OWFs construction and operation phases, and their correlations along with environment factors were assessed. Results reveal that the impact of pile-driving from wind farm construction on plankton is temporary and diminishes with increasing distance. Furthermore, the damaged zooplankton community, especially adaptive species, was able to recover rapidly after pile-driving activities ceased. The generalist species with higher niche breadth, tolerant and adaptive taxa such as Penilia avirostris Dana proliferated rapidly, and hence the community largely recovered within five months. The wind turbine operation took a lesser impact on zooplankton in operation phase, primarily disturbed certain species and their ecological patterns. After one year of operation, the zooplankton community in the NEAR exhibited broader ecological niches (2.70 vs 1.75) and reduced network connectivity (e.g., 40 % decrease in edges) and stability, perhaps due to the predation pressure by artificial reef effect. Crustacean larvae, Malacostracan shrimp, and Calanoid copepods exhibit relatively strong adaptability, while Cyclopoida copepods and hydrozoans may exhibit greater susceptibility to offshore wind farm impacts. Doliolum spp. might be vulnerability as a disturbance-sensitive bioindicator. This study provides an understanding of the ecological effects of OWFs on zooplankton community, which is beneficial to the assessment of the expansion of offshore wind farms.