Seasonal regulation of Daphnia populations by planktivorous fish: Implications for the spring clear‐water phase

Luecke, Chris; Vanni, Michael J.; Magnuson, John J.; Kitchell, James F.; Jacobson, Paul T.

doi:10.4319/lo.1990.35.8.1718

Cited by 146 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…There has been a long-standing controversy whether the zooplankton decline in early summer, marking the breakdown of the clear-water phase, is caused by 0+ fish predation or resource limitation (Luecke et al 1990;Mehner and Thiel 1999;Hü lsmann and Voight 2002). This controversy may partly be a result of the fact that recruitment of 0+ fish differs between years within lakes as well as among lakes, which, of course, will lead to differences in predation rates on zooplankton.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of fish predation, migration, and juvenile ontogeny on zooplankton spring dynamics

Hansson

Nicolle

Brodersen

et al. 2007

Limnology & Oceanography

123

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In order to disentangle if and when resource supply and adult and young-of-the-year (0+) fish predation affect zooplankton dynamics during spring, we monitored zooplankton during three consecutive years in a lake in southern Sweden. We also experimentally assessed 0+ fish predation rates and estimated changes in predation rates of adult fish on zooplankton. Decline in abundances of large-sized zooplankters in early spring was not caused by 0+ fish predation. Instead, this decline was most likely a combined result of size-selective predation from adult fish (stationary in the lake and from those returning from surrounding streams) and competition for diminishing algal food resources. On the other hand, the decline in medium-sized zooplankton in the lake during spring was strongly affected by 0+ fish. Hence, during spring, zooplankton are facing predation both from adult fish selecting large prey and from 0+ fish, which start feeding on small-sized prey and eventually switch to larger. Neither predation by different ontogenetic stages of fish (adult and 0+) nor resource supply shape the zooplankton spring dynamics, but rather they affect the timing and strength of these events. 0+ cyprinids tend to have stronger effect on zooplankton dynamics than other taxa of 0+ fish. A combination of predation from adult and 0+ fish during spring is the main mechanism behind the crash of the zooplankton community, which in many lakes leads to the termination of the clear-water phase.The spring, with its rapidly increasing temperature, is an important period for the development of the zooplankton summer community in temperate regions, mirrored in dramatic fluctuations in population densities. These conspicuous spring fluctuations are due to changes in reproductive rates and resource supply but also to increased feeding rates from predators. The total predation rate on zooplankton may be divided into several components. First, there is predation from adult fish present in the lake year-round, and the seasonal fluctuations in their predation rate is driven by temperature (Lessmark 1983) and is generally most intense on larger zooplankton size classes (Brooks and Dodson 1965). Second, a dramatic change in the predation rate occurs with the hatching and recruitment of young-of-the-year fish (0+) in the spring. They start their life by feeding on small zooplankton but are within a few weeks able to feed on larger size classes (Mills and Forney 1983;Mehner and Thiel 1999). Thus, smaller size classes of zooplankton should suffer from 0+ predation earlier in the season than larger ones. It has previously been suggested that 0+ predation drives succession in the zooplankton community (Cryer et al. 1986;Gliwicz and Pijanowska 1989), whereas other studies have concluded that 0+ fish predation probably is too weak to explain zooplankton spring dynamics (Cushing 1983;Boersma et al. 1996) and that instead other processes, such as competition and resource supply (i.e., bottom-up processes) are more important. In a review, Mehner and Th...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of fish predation, migration, and juvenile ontogeny on zooplankton spring dynamics

Hansson

Nicolle

Brodersen

et al. 2007

Limnology & Oceanography

123

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“…The clear-water phase is a regular successional event in many temperate lakes (Lampert 1978;Luecke et al 1990;Markager et al 1994;Angeli et al 1995), and has been traced back to the grazing impact of daphnids ), which are the dominant herbivores in Lake Constance at this time of the year (Pinto-Coelho 1991; Straile 1998). The timing of the clear-water phase in the small and eutrophic Plußsee (0.14 km 2 , z mean =9.4 m) was correlated with the mean annual lake temperature (Müller-Navarra et al 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meteorological forcing of plankton dynamics in a large and deep continental European lake

Straile¹

2000

Oecologia

187

221

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The timing of various plankton successional events in Lake Constance was tightly coupled to a largescale meteorological phenomenon, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). A causal chain of meteorological, hydrological, and ecological processes connected the NAO as well as winter and early spring meteorological conditions to planktonic events in summer leading to a remarkable memory of climatic effects lasting over almost half a year. The response of Daphnia to meteorological forcing was most probably a direct effect of altered water temperatures on daphnid growth and was not mediated by changes in phytoplankton concentrations. High spring water temperatures during "high-NAO years" enabled high population growth rates, resulting in a high daphnid biomass as early as May. Hence, a critical Daphnia biomass to suppress phytoplankton was reached earlier in high-NAO years yielding an early and longerlasting clear-water phase. Finally, an earlier summer decline of Daphnia produced in a negative relationship between Daphnia biomass in July and the NAO. Meteorological forcing of the seasonal plankton dynamics in Lake Constance included simple temporal shifts of processes and successional events, but also complex changes in the relative importance of different mechanisms. Since Daphnia plays an important role in plankton succession, a thorough understanding of the regulation of its population dynamics provides the key for predictions of the response of freshwater planktonic food webs to global climate change.

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“…For one thing, the low temperature in June probably delayed development of larger cladoceran species in spring/early summer (Sommer et al 1986) by affecting the population dynamics of daphnids negatively (Luecke et al 1990;Boersma and Vijverberg 1996). The fact that the initial zooplankton community consisted of fewer and smaller cladoceran species in the June compared to the August experiment may have influenced the outcome of our June experiment directly through a reduced ability of the fish to detect such small-sized cladocerans (Kerfoot 1980; Gliwicz and Pijanowska 1989), as well as through a lower effect of predation on the production of small-sized cladocerans (Vanni 1987).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The drastic decline in zooplankton abundance that is associated with the abrupt ending of the clear-water phase of many eutrophic lakes ) has been attributed to YOY fish predation (Whiteside 1988;Gliwicz and Pijanowska 1989; but see Luecke et al 1990;Rudstam et al 1993). Hence, if YOY fish affect zooplankton and algal dynamics at the time of the clear-water phase, YOY predation may drive the zoo-and phytoplankton communities into the late summer stage, characterized by small-sized herbivores, small edible algae, and later blue-green algal blooms (Sommer et al 1986) and reduced water transparency.…”

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confidence: 99%

The impact of larval and juvenile fish on zooplankton and algal dynamics

Romare

Bergman

Hansson

1999

Limnology & Oceanography

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The impact of young-of-the-year (YOY) fish predation on zooplankton dynamics and cascading effects down to phytoplankton were studied in lake enclosures using different densities of larval and juvenile European perch (Perca fluviatilis). Two experiments, one in June and one in August, were performed in Lake Dagstorpssjön, a slightly eutrophic lake in Scania, southern Sweden. In our experiments, we found that in August, there was a negative relation between YOY perch density and cladoceran biomass and between YOY perch density and cladoceran size. Moreover, in August, both rotifer and algal abundance increased with increasing YOY density, and species composition of algae was affected. At high YOY densities, there was also a negative effect on water transparency. In June, when growth of larval perch was slow and daphnid abundance low, larval perch was not the major structuring force on either zooplankton or algal communities. In early summer, the likelihood of YOY perch having an impact on cladoceran biomass is dependent on the timing of many factors. One factor is the timing between larval occurrence and the increase in large cladoceran biomass that will enhance larval growth. In late summer, however, a high enough predation pressure of juvenile fish will prevent recovery of large herbivores after the midsummer decline in zooplankton abundance and will drive the algal community toward a late summer species composition of small algal cells and blue-green algae.

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Seasonal regulation of Daphnia populations by planktivorous fish: Implications for the spring clear‐water phase

Cited by 146 publications

References 16 publications

Consequences of fish predation, migration, and juvenile ontogeny on zooplankton spring dynamics

Consequences of fish predation, migration, and juvenile ontogeny on zooplankton spring dynamics

Meteorological forcing of plankton dynamics in a large and deep continental European lake

The impact of larval and juvenile fish on zooplankton and algal dynamics

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