Interactions Between Predator Kairomone and Food Level Complicate the Ecological Interpretation of Daphnia Laboratory Results

Weber, Anke

doi:10.1093/plankt/23.1.41

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…3c,d). A tendency to produce smaller eggs in the presence of Wsh kairomone has already been found by Machábek (1991) and Stibor (1992), and the phenomenon of earlier reproduction being induced more readily by kairomones at low than at high food levels was reported by Weber (2001) and Hülsmann at al. (2004), which both explain why the mean egg volume was not found to be reduced as much at low as it was at high food levels in the presence of Wsh kairomone in our study (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Daphnia growth is hindered by chemical information on predation risk at high but not at low food levels

Gliwicz

Maszczyk

2006

Oecologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Daphnia hyalina x galeata (Dhg) and D. pulicaria (Dp) are ready to pay greater costs in terms of predation risk avoidance at high rather than at low food levels. Such costs are easier to assess in Daphnia than in large long-lived and difficult-to-handle herbivores, since they can be precisely determined in a few-day experiment as the reduced growth (P=A-R) resulting from diminished assimilation (A) and/or increased respiration (R). In experiments with Daphnia grown for six days from the neonate to the first clutch of eggs, which were given different levels of algal food (Scenedesmus at concentrations from 0.05 to 1.60 mg C l(-1)), individual growth was lower in the presence of fish kairomone (chemical information on fish predation; present at a concentration that induces antipredator defensive behavior and life histories) than in the absence of kairomone (control). The difference from the control was negligible at the lowest food levels, and gradually increased with increasing food concentration. At a food concentration of 1.6 mg C l(-1), growth was reduced by 9-32 and 0-8% in Dhg and Dp, respectively, compared to the controls. A similar reduction was observed in the body length of six-day-old animals (Dhg 6-19%, Dp 0-14%), but not in the first clutch reproductive effort (clutch volume). Daphnia had a greater number of eggs per clutch in the presence of the kairomone, but smaller eggs, so that the total volume of eggs in a clutch was the same with and without kairomone. The amplification of the effect of the kairomone due to high food levels was weaker in Dp, a species that rarely coexists with planktivorous fish in natural habitats.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Daphnia growth is hindered by chemical information on predation risk at high but not at low food levels

Gliwicz

Maszczyk

2006

Oecologia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In both these cases, daphnids matured earlier at a smaller size and with fewer eggs. Similar response was also observed at low food concentrations when fish chemicals were present (Weber 2001). Presence of gape limited predators and low food levels are quite common within the beds of submerged macrophytes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

The influence of Myriophyllum verticillatum and artificial plants on some life history parameters of Daphnia magna

2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Submerged macrophytes are known to serve as refuge for zooplankton but also seem to suppress the zooplankton growth. Thus, there is a conflict between the positive and negative role of macrophytes for zooplankton. We tested the influence of physical structure using artificial macrophytes, chemicals released by a macrophyte (Myriophyllum verticillatum), as well as the combined effects of these two factors on the life history of Daphnia magna. Daphnids matured at a smaller size and produced fewer eggs but larger individual offspring in the presence of artificial and real plants. Thus, under conditions with plants, we observed a trade off between number of eggs produced and the individual size of the offspring. Daphnids grown in the presence of exudates without plants were larger at maturity and showed no reduction in clutch size as compared with the control. We suggest that the macrophytes (real and artificial) negatively affected the daphnids in two ways: (1) food particles were settling down faster on the plant structures and this reduced the available food for Daphnia, (2) the plant structures were obstacles for the daphnids causing them to spent more energy during swimming. Both effects resulted in a reduced somatic growth, whereas the increased individual offspring size was probably a response to the reduced food level. Daphnia was not negatively affected by Myriophyllum exudates.

show abstract

“…This ambiguity in the response is indicative of the complexity of the response of Daphnia to different environmental cues and/or internal states such as hunger level (Weetman and Atkinson 2002). While we attempted to hold all conditions constant (e.g., Daphnia were cultured in a similar manner and fed the day before each experiment), differences in the resources and light levels in the culturing environment of Daphnia, in their handling during transfer to the experiment, or in the preparation of Mysis cue, may have caused the Daphnia to respond differently (Weber 2001). While more research is required to understand the complexity of the response, the ambiguity does not change our principal result that Lake Michigan D. mendotae can perceive and respond to the presence of Mysis kairomones.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Resource conditions can affect the magnitude of predator-induced changes in prey behavior (Werner and Anholt 1993, Grand and Dill 1999, Weber 2001, Weetman and Atkinson 2002. These experiments also served to test the robustness of the results of Experiment 1 and to shed insight into the origin of the kairomone to which D. mendotae respond.…”

Section: Specific Experimental Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral response of Lake Michigan Daphnia mendotae to Mysis relicta

Peacor

Pangle

Vanderploeg

2005

Journal of Great Lakes Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Interactions Between Predator Kairomone and Food Level Complicate the Ecological Interpretation of Daphnia Laboratory Results

Cited by 19 publications

References 30 publications

Daphnia growth is hindered by chemical information on predation risk at high but not at low food levels

Daphnia growth is hindered by chemical information on predation risk at high but not at low food levels

The influence of Myriophyllum verticillatum and artificial plants on some life history parameters of Daphnia magna

Behavioral response of Lake Michigan Daphnia mendotae to Mysis relicta

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About