Universität zu Köln

Brzezinski, Tomasz ORCID: 0000-0002-7516-9658 and von Elert, Eric ORCID: 0000-0001-7758-716X (2015). Predator evasion in zooplankton is suppressed by polyunsaturated fatty acid limitation. Oecologia, 179 (3). S. 687 - 698. NEW YORK: SPRINGER. ISSN 1432-1939

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Abstract

Herbivorous zooplankton avoid size-selective predation by vertical migration to a deep, cold water refuge. Adaptation to low temperatures in planktonic poikilotherms depends on essential dietary lipids; the availability of these lipids often limits growth and reproduction of zooplankton. We hypothesized that limitation by essential lipids may affect habitat preferences and predator avoidance behavior in planktonic poikilotherms. We used a liposome supplementation technique to enrich the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus and the cyanobacterium Synecchococcus elongatus with the essential lipids, cholesterol and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and an indoor system with a stratified water-column (plankton organ) to test whether the absence of these selected dietary lipids constrains predator avoidance (habitat preferences) in four species of the key-stone pelagic freshwater grazer Daphnia. We found that the capability of avoiding fish predation through habitat shift to the deeper and colder environment was suppressed in Daphnia unless the diet was supplemented with EPA; however, the availability of cholesterol did not affect habitat preferences of the tested taxa. Thus, their ability to access a predator-free refuge and the outcome of predator-prey interactions depends upon food quality (i.e. the availability of an essential fatty acid). Our results suggest that biochemical food quality limitation, a bottom-up factor, may affect the top-down control of herbivorous zooplankton.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Brzezinski, Tomasz UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-7516-9658 UNSPECIFIED von Elert, Eric UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-7758-716X UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-388974
DOI:	10.1007/s00442-015-3405-4
Journal or Publication Title:	Oecologia
Volume:	179
Number:	3
Page Range:	S. 687 - 698
Date:	2015
Publisher:	SPRINGER
Place of Publication:	NEW YORK
ISSN:	1432-1939
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language DIEL VERTICAL MIGRATION; FRESH-WATER HERBIVORE; DAPHNIA-GALEATA; LIPID-COMPOSITION; TROPHIC CASCADES; HOMEOVISCOUS ADAPTATION; NUTRITIONAL CONSTRAINTS; EICOSAPENTAENOIC ACID; ADAPTIVE SIGNIFICANCE; PRIMARY PRODUCERS Multiple languages Ecology Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/38897