Can overwintering versus diapausing strategy in Daphnia determine match–mismatch events in zooplankton–algae interactions?

Abstract

Mismatches between predator and prey due to climate change have now been documented for a number of systems. Ultimately, a mismatch may have far-reaching consequences for ecosystem functioning as decoupling of trophic relationships results in trophic cascades. Here, we examine the potential for climate change induced mismatches between zooplankton and algae during spring succession, with a focus on Daphnia and its algal food. Whereas the development of an overwintering population of daphnids may parallel shifts in phytoplankton phenology due to climate warming, changes in the photoperiod-temperature interaction may cause the emerging population of daphnids to hatch too late and mismatch their phytoplankton prey. A decoupling of the trophic relationship between the keystone herbivore Daphnia and its algal prey can result in the absence of a spring clear water phase. We extended an existing minimal model of seasonal dynamics of Daphnia and algae and varied the way the Daphnia population is started in spring, i.e., from free swimming individuals or from hatching resting eggs. Our model results show that temperature affects the timing of peak abundance in Daphnia and algae, and subsequently the timing of the clear water phase. When a population is started from a small inoculum of hatching resting eggs, extreme climate warming (+6 degrees C) results in a decoupling of trophic relationships and the clear water phase fails to occur. In the other scenarios, the trophic relationships between Daphnia and its algal food source remain intact. Analysis of 36 temperate lakes showed that shallow lakes have a higher potential for climate induced match-mismatches, as the probability of active overwintering daphnids decreases with lake depth. Future research should point out whether lake depth is a direct causal factor in determining the presence of active overwintering daphnids or merely indicative for underlying causal factors such as fish predation and macrophyte cover.

Spring phenological responses of marine and freshwater plankton to changing temperature and light conditions

“…We therefore focus the discussion primarily on general patterns observed across both marine and freshwater systems, and emphasize differences between the systems only when they can be attributed to biological characteristics such as community composition. Increased temperature advanced spring peaks consistently across systems and taxonomic groups, which agrees with predictions from dynamical models of pelagic producer-grazer systems (De Senerpont Domis et al 2007;Schalau et al 2008) and with long-term observations in lakes and marine systems (Edwards and Richardson 2004;Shimoda et al 2011;Weyhenmeyer et al 1999;Winder and Schindler 2004). The degree of advance in primary producers varied considerably among taxonomic groups.…”

“…Model investigations of phytoplankton-Daphnia dynamics predict that the magnitude of algal and Daphnia spring peaks is fairly insensitive to changes in temperature (De Senerpont Domis et al 2007;Schalau et al 2008) but rather sensitive to changes in algal carrying capacity as mediated by light supply (Jäger et al 2008;Schalau et al 2008). These expectations were confirmed in the freshwater experiments, that is, the magnitudes of phytoplankton and Daphnia peaks were unaffected by temperature, but increased with increasing light supply.…”

The response of temperate aquatic ecosystems to global warming: novel insights from a multidisciplinary project

“…In contrast, increased (light-dependent) algal production and increased (temperature-dependent) Daphnia growth both speeded up successional dynamics as shown in coupled Daphnia-phytoplankton models (Diehl 2007). For the Daphnia-phytoplankton interaction, modeling studies suggest that a mismatch is only likely to occur under extreme warming and a strong reliance of Daphnia dynamics on recruitment from resting eggs, triggered by day length (De SenerpontDomis et al 2007). In the Saidenbach Reservoir study, climate-driven phenology shifts of the participant species led to a switch between invertebrate and fish predation on the herbivorous zooplankton (Wagner and Benndorf 2007;Wagner et al 2012b).…”

Toward a synthetic understanding of the role of phenology in ecology and evolution

“…Awareness of the linkages between these fields should improve the mechanistic understanding of phenology and forecasts of climate change impacts. The articles by Wilczek et al (2010) and Chuine (2010) illustrate the utility of taking a mechanistic approach to fundamental ecological questions (see also de Senerpont Domis et al (2007) for an application in a different system). Furthermore, deeper knowledge of the developmental and physiological aspects of phenology should improve our understanding of the prospects for evolutionary change in phenological traits (cf.…”