The influence of year-to-year variations in winter weather on the dynamics of Daphnia and Eudiaptomus in Esthwaite Water, Cumbria

1. Micro-crustacea of the genus Daphnia and Eudiaptomus have evolved different physiological mechanisms for coping with life in a rapidly changing environment. In this paper, we analyse some of the physical and biological factors influencing the winter abundance of the two species in a small lake (Esthwaite Water in Cumbria).
2. The results demonstrate that much of the year-to-year variation in their relative abundance can be related to long-term changes in the weather. The highest numbers of Daphnia were typically found in cold, calm winters when small flagellates were relatively abundant. In contrast, the highest numbers of Eudiaptomus were found in mild, windy winters when the phytoplankton community was dominated by colonial diatoms.
3. Year-to-year variations in the winter abundance of Eudiaptomus had no effect on their subsequent development but the numbers of overwintering Daphnia had a significant effect on the size of their first spring 'cohort'. The most important factor influencing the overwintering performance of the two species was the water temperature.
4. Winter air temperatures over much of Europe are influenced by the atmospheric pressure variation known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Winter water temperatures in Esthwaite Water were strongly correlated with this empirical index and there was a significant positive correlation between the NAO and the number of overwintering Eudiaptomus.     

Field evidence for stoichiometric relationships between zooplankton and N and P availability in a shallow calcareous lake

1. According to stoichiometric theory, zooplankters have a species‐specific elemental composition. Daphniids have a relatively high phosphorus concentration in their tissues and copepods high nitrogen. Daphniids should, therefore, be more sensitive to phosphorus limitation and copepods more sensitive to nitrogen. A 2‐year study of a shallow marl lake in the west of Ireland investigated whether population fluctuations of the two dominant taxa, Daphnia spp. and the calanoid Eudiaptomus gracilis, were associated with the availability of phosphorus and nitrogen. 2. In accordance with stoichiometric predictions, Daphnia and Eudiaptomus reproduction had contrasting relationships with dietary phosphorus and nitrogen availability. Egg production by Daphnia was negatively associated with the ratio of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) : total phosphorus (TP) and the ratio of light to TP which was used as an indirect index for seston carbon (C) : phosphorus (P). Conversely calanoid egg production had a positive relationship with the DIN : TP ratio and was unrelated to the estimated C : P (light : TP) ratio. 3. Daphnia biomass was not, however, correlated with phosphorus availability, and neither was calanoid biomass correlated with nitrogen. The high ratio of DIN : TP when Daphnia dominated the zooplankton biomass and the low ratio when calanoids dominated, is consistent with Daphnia acting as a sink for phosphorus and calanoids as a sink for nitrogen and suggests consumer‐driven nutrient recycling.     

Stoichiometric impacts of increased carbon dioxide on a planktonic herbivore

The partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂) in lake ecosystems varies over four orders of magnitude and is affected by local and global environmental perturbations associated with both natural and anthropogenic processes. Little is known, however, about how changes in pCO₂ extend into the function and structure of food webs in freshwater ecosystems. To fill this gap, we performed laboratory experiments using the ecologically important planktonic herbivore Daphnia and its algal prey under a natural range of pCO₂ with low light and phosphorus supplies. The experiment showed that increased pCO₂ stimulated algal growth but reduced algal P : C ratio. When feeding on algae grown under high pCO₂, herbivore growth decreased regardless of algal abundance. Thus, high CO₂‐raised algae were poor food for Daphnia. Short‐term experimental supplementation of PO₄ raised the P content of the high CO₂‐raised algae and improved Daphnia growth, indicating that low Daphnia growth rates under high pCO₂ conditions were due to lowered P content in the algal food. These results suggest that, in freshwater ecosystems with low nutrient supplies, natural processes as well as anthropogenic perturbations resulting in increased pCO₂ enhance algal production but reduce energy and mass transfer efficiency to herbivores by decreasing algal nutritional quality.     

The effect of Daphnia on filament length of blue-green algae

Water from a hypertrophic lake rich in filamentous blue-green algae was passed through a continuous-flow system of aquaria containing Daphnia magna, and a control system without Daphnia. Daphnia caused a significant decrease in the blue-green algal density, and a two-fold reduction in filament length. It is suggested that feeding activity of Daphnia may result in an increase in the availability of blue-green filaments to filter-feeding cladocerans.     

Food quality for Eudiaptomus gracilis: the importance of particular highly unsaturated fatty acids

1. Development times and survival of nauplii and copepodites of the freshwater calanoid Eudiaptomus gracilis were measured on comparably sized Cryptomonas sp. and two strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardii under food saturated conditions (1 mg C L−1) to investigate the nutritional quality of these algae.
2.  Cryptomonas sp. supported complete ontogenesis of nauplii to adults, whereas both strains of C. reinhardii were inadequate for the development of nauplii and copepodites and resulted in high mortality. The nutritional deficiency of both strains of C. reinhardii was compensated for by Cryptomonas sp. when the latter constituted ≥50% of dietary carbon. Pulses of Cryptomonas sp. had a similar compensatory effect.
3. In comparison to Cryptomonas sp., both strains of C. reinhardii were deficient in the three highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) stearidonic, eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid. We manipulated the fatty acid content of C. reinhardii by externally adding these three HUFAs to the alga so that the fatty acid profile resembled that of Cryptomonas sp. This supplementation did not improve food quality, however, indicating that the nutritional deficiency of both strains of C. reinhardii for the ontogenesis of E. gracilis is not due to a lack of these three HUFAs.     

Food assimilation and filtering rate of bighead carp kept in cages

Bighead carp, Aristichthys nobilis Rich., dry weight food assimilation rates ranged from 37 to 49% (average 43%). The filtration rate ranged from 185 to 256 ml h^–1 g^–1 and was higher in larger fish. Bighead carp filtered Chlorella vulgaris (6 ± 0.4 µ diam) inefficiently (0.1 %), but the efficiency increased to 13 % for the larger Scenedesmus sp. (12 ± 1.7 µ diam). Fish kept in cages were forced to filter-feed, whereas fish kept free in the same pond were opportunistic plankton and bottom feeders. Free fish grew faster.     

Effects of temperature on the food processing of three species of seaweed-eating fishes from European coastal waters

Food consumption, gut transit times and assimilation efficiencies of the temperate fishes Lipophrys pholis and Parablennius sanguinolentus (Blenniidae) and Gobius cobitis (Gobiidae. when fed the green alga Ulva lactuca were determined at four temperatures in the laboratory. Food consumption increased and gut transit times decreased with increase in temperature in all three species. Assimilation efficiencies for algal carbon and nitrogen did not vary with temperature in G. cobitis . Carbon but not nitrogen assimilation efficiency varied with temperature in P. sanguinolentus , and both carbon and nitrogen assimilation efficiencies changed broadly with temperature in L. pholis , the most omnivorous of the three fishes. Assimilation efficiencies of all three species were generally within the previously reported ranges for herbivorous marine fishes. These species are thus clearly capable of extracting energy from algal food sources.     

Strain-specific Influence of Microcystis Aeruginosa on Food Ingestion and Assimilation of some Cladocerans and Copepods

Ingestion rates where estimated for daphnids, Cyclops spp. and Bosmina (Eubosmina) coregoni thersites fed hepatotoxic and non-toxic M. aeruginosa either separate or mixed with the readily available food alga Ankistrodesmus falcatus. The ingestion rates of hepatotoxic strains of M. aeruginosa are very low compared with those of A. falcatus or non-toxic M. aeruginosa HUB 5-3 fed to Daphnia magna or D. longispina. However, a close relationship between ingestion rate of different M. aeruginosa strains and their toxicity could not be observed. Addition of the toxic strain M. aeruginosa HUB 5-2-4 reduces the ingestion rates of A. falcatus progressively due to increased food rejection by D. magna. Additionally, the assimilation efficiency of M. aeruginosa HUB 5-2-4 is two times lower compared with A. falcatus and M. aeruginosa HUB 5-3 leading to strong starvation.     

Algae as first food for cod larvae,Gadus morhuaL.: filter feeding or ingestion by accident?

Cod larvae. Gadus morhua L., 24 days posthatch, were fed different species of algae in order to evaluate both rates and mechanisms of ingestion. The results were compared with cod larvae feeding on a natural assemblage of algae in a lagoon. Small algae (Nannochloris atomus Butcher, 14 pm) were found to enter the larval gut in accordance with drinking rate. In contrast, the cod larvae concentrated larger algae [Dunaliella salina (Dunal) Teodor. 6 10 pm] in the gut at rates from 492 to 7251 times the drinking rate. D. salina was captured in the slits between the visceral arches, and increased activity when the algae was added indicate that the cod larvae are active filter feeders during early larval stages. In the gut of cod larvae from the lagoon the fraction of algal material with diameter larger than 8 pm was 39.2% in 7-day-old larvae while, in 12-day-old larvae it had decreased to 12.6%. The most conspicuous characteristics of gut content in the youngest larvae were green spheres (10 μn) and a naked dinoflagellate (20 μn). Short chains of the diatom Skeletonemu cosrarum (Greville) Cleve were also frequently found.     

Alteration of the gastrointestinal microbiota of mice by edible blue-green algae

Aims:  To characterize the effect of edible blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) on the gastrointestinal microbiota of mice.
Methods and Results:  C57BL/6J mice were fed a diet supplemented with 0% or 5% dried Nostoc commune , Spirulina platensis or Afanizominon flos-aquae (w/w) for 4 weeks. Molecular fingerprinting of the colonic microbiota using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed that administration of N. commune induced major alterations in colonic microbiota composition, while administration of S. platensis or A. flos-aquae had a more subtle impact. Community profile analysis revealed that administration of N. commune did not reduce microbial diversity indices of the colonic microbiota. Despite its pronounced effects on the bacterial composition in the colon, total bacterial numbers in the gut of mice fed N. commune were not reduced as assessed by quantitative real-time PCR and bacteriological culture.
Conclusions:  The results presented here show that administration of blue-green algae, and especially N. commune , alters colonic microbiota composition in mice with limited effects on total bacterial numbers or microbial diversity.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  Blue-green algae are consumed in many countries as a source of nutrients and to promote health, and they are intensively studied for their pharmaceutical value. Given the importance of the gut microbiota for many host functions, the effects of blue-green algae on gut microbial ecology revealed during this study should be considered when using them as food supplements or when studying their pharmaceutical properties.     

Effect of food concentration on the respiration of Daphnia magna

The relationship between respiration rate and dry weight forDaphnia magna was investigated in the absence of food. In addition the respiration and feeding rates of matureDaphnia magna females were measured simultaneously at differentChlorella concentrations. It was found that, besides the expected effect of food concentration on the feeding rate, there also was an effect of food concentration on the respiration rate. For food concentrations above a certain critical level a negative correlation between respiration rate and food concentration was found. Below this critical level the effect of the food concentration on the respiration rate was not significant.