ISSN:
1573-5117
Keywords:
cladocera
;
Daphnia
;
Chaoborus
;
size-selectivepredation
;
competition
;
birth rate
;
death rate
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract The role of large laboratory grown food competitors ofthe genus Daphnia as well as the predationimpact of Chaoborus on the cladoceran communityof an eutrophic lake was assessed in five insitu enclosure experiments. The hypothesis tested wasthat the outcome of competition and gape-limitedpredation on cladocerans is size dependent. Accordingto the generally accepted assumptions on competitionand invertebrate predation, large-bodied cladocerantaxa were expected to be less affected by competingcongeners and by Chaoborus than weresmall-bodied taxa. Effects of the predator upon anassemblage of differently sized cladoceran taxa weremuch more pronounced than effects of competition.There was a tendency of predation and competitionimpact to decrease with cladoceran size, but predationpressure was also low for some small cladocerans andhigh for some large cladocerans. The general trendswere further obscured by factors not or indirectlylinked to body size.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1003177622210
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