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Genotype × environment interactions, stoichiometric food quality effects, and clonal coexistence in Daphnia pulex

Oecologia volume 143, pages 537–547 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

The role of stoichiometric food quality in influencing genotype coexistence and competitive interactions between clones of the freshwater microcrustacean, Daphnia pulex, was examined in controlled laboratory microcosm experiments. Two genetically distinct clones of D. pulex, which show variation in their ribosomal (r)DNA structure, as well as differences in a number of previously characterized growth-rate-related features (i.e., life-history features), were allowed to compete in two different arenas: (1) batch cultures differing in algal food quality (i.e., high vs. low carbon:phosphorus (C:P ratio) in the green alga, Scenedesmus acutus); (2) continuous flow microcosms receiving different light levels (i.e., photosynthetically active radiation) that affected algal C:P ratios. In experiment 1, a clear genotype × environment interaction was determined with clone 1 out-competing clone 2 under high nutrient (i.e., low food C:P) conditions, while the exact opposite pattern was observed under low nutrient (i.e., high C:P) conditions. In experiment 2, clone 1 dominated over clone 2 under high light (higher C:P) conditions, but clonal coexistence was observed under low light (low C:P) conditions. These results indicate that food (nutrient) quality effects (hitherto an often overlooked factor) may play a role in microevolutionary (genotypic) responses to changing stoichiometric conditions in natural populations.

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Notes

  1. we report here only the carbon and phosphorus data given that the N:P ratio ensured P-limitation—as explained in the above text.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (US, Grant no. 9977047) and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research B (no. 12440218) from MEXT, Japan. We thank S. Ishida, T. Ishikawa, T. Iwata, N. Kuwae, J. Togari, and C. Yoshimizu for laboratory assistance. All experiments were in compliance with applicable laws of the US and Japan. We thank S. Kohler and two anonymous reviewers for their comments.

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Author notes

  1. Wataru Makino & Jotaro Urabe

    Present address: Graduate School of Life Science, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tohoku University, Aoba, Sendai, 980-8578, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Biological Station, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Lawrence J. Weider & Karen L. Glenn

  2. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA

    Kumud Acharya, Marcia Kyle & James J. Elser

  3. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, 509-3, Kamitanakami Hirano-cho, Otsu, 520-2113, Japan

    Wataru Makino & Jotaro Urabe

  4. Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA

    Kumud Acharya

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  1. Lawrence J. Weider
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Correspondence to Lawrence J. Weider.

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Communicated by Steve Kohler

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Weider, L.J., Makino, W., Acharya, K. et al. Genotype × environment interactions, stoichiometric food quality effects, and clonal coexistence in Daphnia pulex . Oecologia 143, 537–547 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0003-x

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Keywords

  • Nutrients
  • Elemental ratios
  • Daphniids
  • Competition
  • Clones