Food Type Effects on the Population Growth Patterns of Littoral Rotifers and Cladocerans

Abstract

Littoral rotifers and cladocerans feed on bacteria, phytoplankton, and detritus. In comparison to planktonic organisms their species diversity is high, yet little is known about their biology. In this study we present data on the functional response of the cladocerans Macrothrix triserialis and Alona rectangula, and the rotifer Brachionus macracanthus to different levels of the alga Chlorella vulgaris. Based on the incipient limiting level, we chose the food concentration and tested the population growth on four types of diets for three cladoceran species -Macrothrix triserialis, Alona rectangula, and Chydorus sphaericus -and three rotifer species -Brachionus macracanthus, Lecane quadridentata, and Platyias quadricornis. We studied growth rates of each of these species on diets of live Chlorella vulgaris, heat-killed Chlorella vulgaris, baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and field collected detritus. The incipient limiting level was around 0.9 · 10 6 cells mL -1 of Chlorella for the tested zooplankton species. The population growth patterns showed that, in general, the cladocerans took 25...50 d to reach their peak population densities, which ranged from 10...75 ind. mL -1 . Among the rotifers L. quadridentata and B. macracanthus had equally high growth rates on live and heat-killed forms of C. vulgaris while P. quadricornis grew best on detritus. The growth rates ranged from 0.03...0.21 d -1 . The similarities and differences between littoral and planktonic organisms in relation to food type and availability have been discussed. Effekte des Nahrungstyps auf das Populationswachstum von litoralen Rotatorien und CladocerenLitorale

Differences in rotifer communities in two freshwater bodies of different trophic degree (Lake Ohrid and Lake Dojran, Macedonia)

“…Species composition and abundance of rotifers can be influenced by a number of physical, chemical and biological factors, such as temperature (e.g., Herzig 1983;Berzins & Pejler 1989a), O 2 (Berzins & Pejler 1989b), pH (Berzins & Pejler 1987), quantity and quality of food (e.g., Enrique-García et al 2003;Ramos-Rodriguez & Conde-Porcuna 2003), predation and competition (Wickham & Gilbert 1991;Dieguez & Gilbert 2002). The size of water bodies (Patalas 1971), their trophic state (Gannon & Stemberger 1978) and the succession stage (Hutchinson 1967) also greatly influence the species composition of rotifers.…”

Effect of Single Species or Mixed Algal (Chlorella vulgaris andScenedesmus acutus) Diets on the Life Table Demography ofBrachionus calyciflorus andBrachionus patulus (Rotifera: Brachionidae)

“…This was also used for the rotifer cultures. Data on the algal dry weights (C. vulgaris: 0.0142 ng per cell and S. acutus: 0.024 ng per cell) were obtained from a previous study [29].…”

Coupling of seasonal variations in the zooplankton community within the limnetic and littoral zones of a shallow pond

“…Although data are available on food availability in littoral zones (Rautio and Vincent, 2006), a comparison of food quality has not been recognized yet (Burks et al, 2002). One of the main dietary sources for littoral zooplankton is detritus (Garcı´a et al, 2003). Next to detritus, planktonic organisms are able to feed on periphyton or benthic particles as an alternative source of food besides phytoplankton .…”