Two decades of Rotifera studies in temporary aquatic ecosystems in Brazil

This systematic review compiled studies on the occurrence of Rotifera in temporary aquatic environments in Brazil, evaluating the number of studies and taxa recorded in relation to ecological and methodological factors. Textual analyses highlighted the centrality of the term zooplankton, mainly associated with community, species, and diversity. These results reinforce the importance of temporary environments as models for studying plankton biodiversity. In total, 274 Rotifera taxa were recorded. Most studies focused on the Atlantic Forest biome, with sampling mainly carried out in the littoral zone and in the planktonic community, sampling was typically performed by filtering water volumes ranging from 40 and 100 L and nets with a 50 µm mesh. In studies that included sediments, the 8 cm depth collector was the most commonly used, and the 1 mL subsampling was the most frequent. However, the number of taxa recorded did not follow the pattern of sampling effort, highlighting the lack of methodological standardization. The most analyzed environmental variables were temperature, pH, and chlorophyll-a, and the rarefaction curve indicated that only 62.26% of the potential richness was recorded. These findings highlight the need for methodological standardization and further studies to expand knowledge about rotifer biodiversity in temporary environments.