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Impact of different developmental stages of Daphnia magna (Straus) on the plankton community under different trophic conditions

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Abstract

In situ 24-h incubation experiments were performed to analyse the grazing effects of Daphnia magna on a planktonic microbial community. Three field grazing experiments under different nutrient concentrations were carried out on treated effluents of a wastewater treatment plant. The grazing effects of three different D. magna size classes (small (0.6–1.6 mm), medium (1.7–2.5 mm) and large individuals (2.6–3.7 mm)) were compared. The different sizes classes had similar effects on the plankton community. However, our results showed big differences in effects among experiments. Our findings suggest that in spite of D. magna’s non-selective feeding behaviour and the fact that different developmental stages (i.e. its size) had similar effects on the microbial planktonic community, these effects can differ according to the initial structure and composition of the community and the resulting cascading trophic interactions. Moreover, D. magna effects can be direct through grazing (as is the case with ciliates), or indirect through trophic cascade interactions (as is the case with bacteria).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Comisión de Investigación Científica y Técnica (CICYT), Programa de Investigación Fundamental (ref. CGL2008-05778/BOS) and by a predoctoral grant from the Universitat de Girona (ref. BR06/03). We would like to thank the Consorci de la Costa Brava for allowing us to perform the experiments in the facilities of the Empuriabrava WWTP and for providing us with useful information and data. We would also like to thank the Servei de Control de Mosquits de la Badia de Roses i el Baix Ter for allowing us to use their laboratory facilities. We are also grateful to the Editor and two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped to improve the original submission. Finally, we thank the Modern Language Service of the Universitat de Girona for of the revision the English text.

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  1. Institute of Aquatic Ecology, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Girona, Campus Montilivi, 17071, Girona, Spain

    J. Compte, S. Brucet, S. Gascón, D. Boix, J. Sala, R. López-Flores & X. D. Quintana

  2. Institute for Environment and Sustainability, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Via Enrico Fermi, 21020, Ispra, Italy

    S. Brucet

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  1. J. Compte
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Compte, J., Brucet, S., Gascón, S. et al. Impact of different developmental stages of Daphnia magna (Straus) on the plankton community under different trophic conditions. Hydrobiologia 635, 45–56 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-009-9860-3

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