Factors influencing the induction of diapausing egg production in the calanoid copepod Diaptomus leptopus

Field and laboratory studies were carried out between 1995 and 1997 on four populations of Diaptomus leptopus found in seasonally temporary, occasionally temporary, and a permanent environment to assess the relative importance of photoperiod and temperature regimes versus other proximate local cues in inducing diapause egg production. Patterns of diapausing and subitaneous egg production were determined by observation of individual females bearing clutches that were produced in the field. A laboratory common-garden experiment was performed to assess the effects of four different regimes of temperature and photoperiod on the induction of diapause. Patterns of diapausing egg production differed among ponds: diapause occurred early in the seasonally temporary environment and occurred rarely in the permanent environment. In the common-garden experiment, populations exhibited substantial changes in the onset of diapause when compared to patterns found under field conditions. These results provide indirect evidence that the different populations respond to available cues of environmental change in different ways in nature, or that environmental cues vary among habitats.