Parasites form an integral part of food webs, however, they are often ignored in classic food web theory or limited to the investigation of trophic transmission pathways. Specifically, direct consumption of parasites by nonhost predators is rarely considered, while it can contribute substantially to energy flow in food webs. In aquatic systems, chytrids constitute a major group of fungal parasites whose free‐living infective stages (zoospores) form a highly nutritional food source to zooplankton. Thereby, the consumption of zoospores can create an energy pathway from otherwise inedible phytoplankton to zooplankton (“mycoloop”). This parasite‐mediated energy pathway might be of special importance during phytoplankton blooms dominated by inedible or toxic primary producers like cyanobacteria, which are on the rise with eutrophication and global warming. We theoretically investigated community dynamics and energy transfer in a food web consisting of an edible nonhost and an inedible host phytoplankton species, a parasitic fungus, and a zooplankton species grazing on edible phytoplankton and fungi. Food web dynamics were investigated along a nutrient gradient contrasting nonadaptive zooplankton species representative for filter feeders like cladocerans and zooplankton with the ability to actively adapt their feeding preferences like many copepod species. Overall, the importance of the mycoloop for zooplankton increases with nutrient availability. This increase is smooth for nonadaptive consumers. For adaptive consumers, we observe an abrupt shift from an almost exclusive preference for edible phytoplankton at low nutrient levels to a strong preference for parasitic fungi at high nutrient levels. The model predicts that parasitic fungi could contribute up to 50% of the zooplankton diet in nutrient‐rich environments, which agrees with empirical observations on zooplankton gut content from eutrophic systems during blooms of inedible diatoms or cyanobacteria. Our findings highlight the role of parasite‐mediated energy pathways for predictions of energy flow and community composition under current and future environmental change.
In this work the Droop model and logistic model are combined to form another mathematical model for a microorganism population that is named the Droop-Logistic model. The equation of the organism growth of this model is from the logistic model, and the growth rate is from the Droop model. Our new model is shown to have a unique solution on an open set by the Lipschitz condition. By analyzing local stability, the condition for having maximum cell numbers and the condition for being stable from the balancing of the surrounding nutrient and the intracellular quota are determined. Numerical examples are given three values of dilution rate. It was found that when the dilution rate satisfies the condition of maximum growth, i.e. it is less than the maximum growth rate, then the cell number will reach its maximum at the stationary time. If the dilution rate is greater than the maximum growth rate, then the cell number will decrease to zero. Lastly, if the dilution rate is zero and the maximum growth condition is satisfied, then the cell number will tend to the maximum value as well.
Fungi can affect aquatic ecosystems through syntrophic and parasitic interactions with other organisms and organic matter. In pelagic systems, fungal parasites on phytoplankton can control trophic interactions and food-web dynamics, e.g., zooplankton grazing on fungal parasite zoospores creates an alternative energy pathway (termed mycoloop) from otherwise inedible phytoplankton species. We aim to investigate how the mycoloop influences community dynamics in aquatic food-webs combining experimental and modelling approaches. We assembled an experimental system consisting of an inedible (host) phytoplankton species and its parasitic chytrid, an edible (non-host) phytoplankton species, and a zooplankton grazer. Chytrids parasitizing increased edible phytoplankton abundance, while zooplankton grazing decreased edible phytoplankton abundance. In the presence of zooplankton and chytrids, competition effects between edible and inedible phytoplankton species depended on nutrient levels. At high nutrient levels, competition was balanced by an indirect positive chytrid effect and negative zooplankton grazing effects on edible phytoplankton. In contrast, at low nutrient levels, we found chytrid had a negative impact on edible phytoplankton synergistically with zooplankton. Mathematical investigations suggest that the synergistic effect can be caused by the mycoloop. This indicates that the mycoloop substantially affects predator-prey interactions and phytoplankton competition with yet unknown ecological consequences.
Parasites form an integral part of food webs, however, mechanistic insights into the role of parasites for energy flow and community dynamics is currently limited by a lack of conceptual studies investigating host-parasite interactions in a community context. In aquatic systems, chytrids constitute a major group of fungal parasites and their free-living infective stage (zoospores) forms a highly nutritional food source to zooplankton. Consumption of zoospores can create an energy pathway from otherwise inedible phytoplankton to zooplankton (“mycoloop”). The impact of such parasite-mediated energy pathways on community dynamics and energy transfer to higher trophic levels is of high importance considering eutrophication and global warming induced shifts to dominance of unfavourable prey such as cyanobacteria. We theoretically investigated community dynamics and energy transfer in a food web consisting of an edible-nonhost and an inedible-host phytoplankton species, a fungal parasite, and a zooplankton species grazing on edible phytoplankton and fungi. Food web dynamics were investigated along a nutrient gradient for two cases: (1) non-adaptive zooplankton species representative for filter feeders like cladocerans and (2) zooplankton with the ability to actively adapt their feeding preferences like many copepod species. For both feeding strategies, the importance of the mycoloop for zooplankton increases with nutrient availability. This increase is smooth for non-adaptive consumers. For a consumer with an adaptive feeding preference, we observe an abrupt shift from almost exclusive preference for edible phytoplankton (dominant prey) at low nutrient levels to a strong preference for parasitic fungi at high nutrient levels. The model predicts that parasitic fungi can contribute up to 50% of the zooplankton diet in nutrient rich environments, agreeing with empirical observations on zooplankton gut content from eutrophic systems during cyanobacterial blooms. Our findings highlight the role of parasite-mediated energy pathway for predictions on energy flow and community composition under environmental change.
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