Abstract
Nutrient limitation commonly constrains organisms in natural ecosystems. Typically, ecologists focus on limitation by N and P. However, other nutrients can limit growth or reproduction. Here we focus on K limitation of invertebrate consumers (Daphnia dentifera) and phytoplankton in freshwater lakes. All organisms require K for several metabolic processes. In freshwater, K could limit growth because low external concentrations can increase the energetic costs of accumulating K. Furthermore, in a study linking K to disease, we previously found that K enrichment of water from one low-K lake stimulated the growth and reproduction of Daphnia. Here we test whether K could limit the production of Daphnia and phytoplankton across lakes and years. We repeated a life table experiment using water collected from a low-K lake during a different year. K again stimulated Daphnia reproduction. We also enriched water from 12 lakes with K or P and measured short-term growth of Daphnia and the resident algal community. Both nutrients increased Daphnia growth in five lakes. However, only P enhanced algal production. P stimulation of Daphnia positively correlated with algal quantity and the ratio of C to P in seston. However, K stimulation of Daphnia was not correlated with these factors or the background concentration of K. Thus, this study shows repeatable K-limited animal physiology in nature. Further, we can exclude the hypothesis that K stimulates Daphnia indirectly by enhancing algal production. These patterns call for future physiological studies to uncover the mechanistic basis of K limitation in natural systems.
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Acknowledgments
D. J. C. and J. L. H. performed the nutrient enrichment assays with A. Peters and J. Watson through the Lilly Scholars Program (LSP) at Indiana University. We thank M. Tellas (LSP program director) and the Lilly Endowment for funding the LSP. K. Boatman, Z. Brown, L. Davies, and J. Lawitschka also helped with experiments. We thank R. Penczykowski (Duffy Lab, Georgia Institute of Technology) and S. Brovold (Sterner Lab, University of Minnesota) for analyzing seston P and C, respectively. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (0841679, 0841817). D. J. C. was supported by a STAR fellowship from the USA Environmental Protection Agency. We appreciate cooperation from S. Siscoe at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry and R. Ronk at the Division of Fish and Wildlife. D. J. C. and S. R. H. designed the experiments; D. J. C. and J. L. H. performed the experiments; D. J. C. analyzed the data and wrote the first draft; all authors edited the manuscript.
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Communicated by Ken Spitze.
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Civitello, D.J., Hite, J.L. & Hall, S.R. Potassium enrichment stimulates the growth and reproduction of a clone of Daphnia dentifera . Oecologia 175, 773–780 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-2943-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-2943-5