Inducible defenses and rotifer food chain dynamics |
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Authors: | Irene Van der Stap Matthijs Vos Wolf M Mooij |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Food Web Studies, Centre for Limnology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Rijksstraatweg 6, Nieuwersluis, 3631 AC, The Netherlands;(2) Department of Biology, University of Victoria, P.O. Box 3020, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8W 3N5;(3) Present address: Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Korringaweg 7, Yerseke, 4401 NT, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Theoretical studies have predicted that inducible defenses affect food chain dynamics and persistence. Here we review and
evaluate laboratory experiments that tested hypotheses developed from these theoretical studies. This review specifically
focuses on the effects of inducible defenses in phytoplankton-rotifer food chain dynamics. First, we describe the occurrence
of colony formation within different strains of green algae (Scenedesmaceae) in response to infochemicals released during
grazing by the herbivorous rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus. Then we examined the effects of inducible defenses on the population dynamics of this planktonic system in which algal strains
that differed in their defense strategies were used. Simple food chains were composed of green algae (Scenedesmaceae), herbivorous
rotifers (Brachionus calyciflorus) and carnivorous rotifers (Asplanchna brightwellii). In this system B. calyciflorus exhibits an inducible defense against predation by developing long postero-lateral spines. Experimental studies showed that
inducible defenses, as opposed to their absence, could prevent high-amplitude population fluctuations. We discuss the dual
effects of induced defenses on extinction probabilities and consider the fit of a theoretical model to experimental data to
understand the mechanisms that underlie the observed dynamics.
Guest editors: S. S. S. Sarma, R. D. Gulati, R. L. Wallace, S. Nandini, H. J. Dumont & R. Rico-Martínez
Advances in Rotifer Research |
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Keywords: | Asplanchna Brachionus Food web Infochemicals Kairomones Phenotypic plasticity Predator– prey interactions Scenedesmus |
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