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Non-consumptive effects of predator presence on copepod reproduction: insights from a mesocosm experiment

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Abstract

Reproduction in planktonic animals depends on numerous biotic and abiotic factors. One of them is predation pressure, which can have both direct consumptive effects on population density and sex ratio, and non-consumptive effects, for example on mating and migration behaviour. In copepods, predator vulnerability depends on their sex, motility pattern and mating behaviour. Therefore, copepods can be affected at multiple stages during the mating process. We investigated the reproductive dynamics of the estuarine copepod Eurytemora affinis in the presence and absence of its predator the mysid Neomysis integer in a mesocosm experiment. We found that the proportion of ovigerous females decreased in the presence of predators. This shift was not caused by differential predation as the absolute number of females was unaffected by mysid presence. Presence of predators reduced the ratio of males to non-ovigerous females, but not by predation of males. Our combined results suggest that the shift from ovigerous to non-ovigerous females under the presence of predators was caused by either actively delayed egg production or by shedding of egg sacs. Nauplii production was initially suppressed in the predation treatment, but increased towards the end of the experiment. The proportion of fertilized females was similar in both treatments, but constantly fell behind model predictions using a random mating model. Our results highlight the importance of non-consumptive effects of predators on copepod reproduction and hence on population dynamics.

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Acknowledgments

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. 228224, MESOAQUA (Grant Number: MESOAQUA 16. COPEPODSEX.HEUSCHELE). J. H. was funded by a Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Research Fellowship (grant number HE 6050/1-1). We especially wish to thank H. Larsson for technical support and the setup of the mesocosms, U. Båmstedt for experimental advice, A. Nielsen for statistical help and T. Kiørboe for discussions. We thank O. Glippa for his help with the counting of developmental stages of some samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ocean Life, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Kavalergården 6, 2920, Charlottenlund, Denmark

    Jan Heuschele, Sara Ceballos & Christian Marc Andersen Borg

  2. Spanish Institute of Oceanography, Oceanographic Center of Gijón, Avd. Príncipe de Asturias, 70bis, 33212, Gijón, Spain

    Sara Ceballos

  3. Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, PO Box 1066, Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway

    Oda Bjærke & Josefin Titelman

  4. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar—CSIC, Ps. Marítim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

    Stamatina Isari

  5. Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, P.O. Box 712, 19013, Anavyssos, Athens, Greece

    Stamatina Isari

  6. Department of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 310 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Rachel Lasley-Rasher

  7. Darling Marine Center, University of Maine, 193 Clarks Cove Road, Walpole, ME, 04573, USA

    Rachel Lasley-Rasher

  8. Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS), Linnaeus University, 39182, Kalmar, Sweden

    Elin Lindehoff

  9. Umeå Marine Sciences Centre, Norrbyn, 91020, Hörnefors, Sweden

    Elin Lindehoff

  10. Université Lille Nord de France, 59000, Lille, France

    Anissa Souissi & Sami Souissi

  11. USTL, LOG, Station Marine de Wimereux, 62930, Wimereux, France

    Anissa Souissi & Sami Souissi

  12. CNRS, UMR 8187, 62930, Wimereux, France

    Anissa Souissi & Sami Souissi

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  1. Jan Heuschele
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  2. Sara Ceballos
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  8. Anissa Souissi
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  9. Sami Souissi
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  10. Josefin Titelman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Heuschele.

Additional information

Communicated by X. Irigoyen.

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227_2014_2449_MOESM1_ESM.tiff

The physical environment in the mesocosms during the experiment, if not otherwise indicate lines indicate the average value over the water column and grey areas indicate confidence limits. O2 concentration measured in µM, PAR in µmol s−1W−1 (TIFF 830 kb)

227_2014_2449_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Phytoplankton composition in the beginning and the end of the experiment with each taxonomic group presented in μg C L−1. Note the different scale of the y axis between sampling dates (TIFF 883 kb)

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Heuschele, J., Ceballos, S., Andersen Borg, C.M. et al. Non-consumptive effects of predator presence on copepod reproduction: insights from a mesocosm experiment. Mar Biol 161, 1653–1666 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-014-2449-z

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