A bdelloid rotifer living as an inquiline in leaves of the pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea

Bateman, L.

doi:10.1007/bf00025735

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Grazers such as rotifers and protozoans form the intermediate level (II), and feed on bacteria and small protists as well as fine detritus particles. The only rotifer found in the pitchers from our field site is the pitcher plant form of the bdelloid rotifer Habrotrocha rosa Donner (Bateman 1987, Cochran-Stafira 1993, although additional species have been reported from other locations (Addicott 1974;D. L. Cochran-Stafira, unpublished manuscript).…”

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…L. Cochran-Stafira, unpublished manuscript). The precise role of H. rosa in the pitcher community is unclear since it has been described as both a bacterivore (Plasota et al 1980) and an omnivore that filter-feeds on small protozoa, algae, and bacteria (Bateman 1987). Larvae of the pitcher plant mosquito Wyeomyia generally have been assumed to be the top predators (III), but are probably omnivorous and feed at all trophic levels.…”

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Integrating Bacteria into Food Webs: Studies with Sarracenia purpurea Inquilines

Cochran-Stafira¹,

Ende²

1998

Ecology

159

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Predation can have both direct and indirect effects on the population dynamics and community structure of freshwater plankton communities, but its effects on the bacterial component of aquatic systems are less well known. We used a series of laboratory reconstructions of the detritus-based food web in the leaves of the northern pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea to test the hypothesis that interactions at higher trophic levels could control bacterial densities and community structure. The typical pitcher community is composed of a basal-level bacterial assemblage, bacterivorous protozoa and rotifers, and larvae of the pitcher plant mosquito Wyeomyia smithii.Using organisms isolated from natural pitchers, we constructed food webs comprising 1-4 consumer species (all possible combinations of the presence and absence of Colpoda, Cyclidium, Bodo, and Wyeomyia larvae) along with a constant bacterial species pool in a factorial design experiment. Bacterial community structure was modified by the direct effects of grazing by protozoa and mosquito larvae, by the indirect effects of competitive interactions among the three protozoans, and by the cascading effects of predation by mosquito larvae. Each combination of grazers/predators produced a different, species-specific pattern of bacterial species relative abundances. Changes in nutrient supplies and other abiotic characteristics of the microcosm environment resulting from the feeding activities of Wyeomyia and the protozoa also had indirect effects on bacterial species profiles. We found an apparent trophic cascade that was mediated by the species composition and relative abundances of the intermediate-level protozoan grazers.Our data support the hypothesis that Wyeomyia smithii serves as a keystone predator in the pitcher community. Mosquito larvae were responsible for the overall architecture of the pitcher food web and the subsequent interactions among grazers and the basal-level bacterial community. At low densities, mosquito larvae controlled patterns of coexistence among protozoan species by modifying competitive interactions, while at normal field densities, Wyeomyia rapidly drove the two ciliates to extinction but permitted continued existence of heterotrophic microflagellates. Wyeomyia larvae also played a dominant role in structuring the bacterial assemblage. Bacterial species profiles in food webs containing Wyeomyia were more similar to each other than to the patterns observed in webs without mosquito larvae.Our results suggest that the interactions among members of microbial communities are just as complex as those observed in plant and animal communities and require study at the species level. Because interactions among higher trophic levels can cascade down to the microbial level, it is therefore appropriate to consider the microbes as integral parts of the entire ecosystem, not merely as decomposers or food resources, but as fully interacting members of the community.

show abstract

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating Bacteria into Food Webs: Studies with Sarracenia purpurea Inquilines

Cochran-Stafira¹,

Ende²

1998

Ecology

159

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Metriocnemus knabi feeds directly on drowned prey captured by the leaf (Heard 1994), whereas W. smithii is a filter-feeder, thought to feed on rotifers, protozoans, and possibly bacteria. The bdelloid rotifer Habrotrocha rosa (Bateman 1987) can be very abundant in pitchers and has been shown to be important for nutrient dynamics within pitcher communities (Bledzki and Ellison 1998). Histiostomatid mites, Sarraceniopus gibsoni (Nesbitt), are also frequent residents in many pitchers (Fashing and O'Connor 1984), as are occasional copepods and cladocerans.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Community Structure on Invasion Success and Rate

Miller

Kneitel

Burns

2002

Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although invasion has long been recognized as an important ecological process, there are very few experimental studies of invasion in natural communities and virtually no studies that determine how trophic structure affects the probability of invasion. We introduced novel protozoans and rotifers into the natural communities found in the water-filled leaves of the pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea. The communities were manipulated in a factorial design of removal of predators (larvae of the mosquito Wyeomyia smithii) and addition of resources (dead insects). Three of the six protozoan species successfully established populations when introduced into pitchers, suggesting that these species are migration limited. The other three protozoans and a rotifer did not successfully invade established communities, although all four are naturally found in these inquiline communities. Of the three successfully invading protozoans, two were more likely to invade when resources were added and one of those even more frequently when predators were removed. Invasion by the third was unaffected by these experimental manipulations. Similar effects of predators and resources were found on population sizes of these three species. This study is one of very few that have addressed invasion experimentally; its results suggest that a variety of factors, including migration, predation, and resource availability, can have different influences on invasion by fairly similar protozoans.

show abstract

“…Habrotrocha rosa DONNER, 1949 Found only in one lake (p). Known from Europe, New Zealand (DONNER, 1965), Canada (BATEMAN, 1987), and Jamaica (KOSTE et al, 1991). (MURRAY, 1905) Found only in Fondo lake (g), never in number.…”

Section: Adineta Vaga Minor Bryce 1893mentioning

confidence: 98%

Bdelloid Rotifers from Lakes above 1700 m in Western Italian Alps, with Taxonomic Notes on Dissotrocha macrostyla

Fontaneto

Melone

2003

International Review of Hydrobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Benthic and periphytic bdelloid communities from 16 alpine lakes from 1700 to 2850 m above sea level in Sesia Valley (Piedmont region, North-western Italy), sampled during summer 2001 and 2002, were analyzed. Seventeen species were identified from these species-poor communities, with 1 to 6 species each. Dissotrocha macrostyla and Philodina citrina were the most common species, present in 10 lakes while 9 species were collected from one lake only. New morphological details from S.E.M. pictures of Dissotrocha macrostyla revealed that Dissotrocha macrostyla tuberculata (GOSSE, 1886) is only a seasonal morphotype. Its different appearance is due to the presence of locally distributed microscopic mucous bubbles (diameter 1.41 ± 0.18 µm) on the trunk surface, produced by the rotifer itself under stressful conditions.

show abstract

A bdelloid rotifer living as an inquiline in leaves of the pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea

Abstract: A new form of Habrotrocha rosa Donner 1949 and aspects of its life as an inquiline of the northern pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea L. are described.

Cited by 18 publications

References 6 publications

Integrating Bacteria into Food Webs: Studies with Sarracenia purpurea Inquilines

Integrating Bacteria into Food Webs: Studies with Sarracenia purpurea Inquilines

Effect of Community Structure on Invasion Success and Rate

Bdelloid Rotifers from Lakes above 1700 m in Western Italian Alps, with Taxonomic Notes on Dissotrocha macrostyla

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About