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Trophic ecology of an aquatic mite (Piona carnea) preying on Daphnia pulex: effects of predator density, nutrient supply and a second predator (Chaoborus americanus)

  • TRIBUTE TO STANLEY DODSON
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Abstract

As compared to other aquatic invertebrates, relatively little is known about the ecology of predaceous, pelagic water mites. Studies to date do, however, show that water mites can be important components of aquatic food webs. Here, we used manipulative field experiments to better understand the trophic ecology of a predaceous water mite (Piona carnea). Three experiments were conducted that examined (i) the effect of P. carnea density on the per-capita interaction strength (PCIS) of P. carnea preying on zooplankton; (ii) how the effects of P. carnea predation change with prey productivity; and (iii) how P. carnea interacts with another pelagic predator (Chaoborus americanus) to affect a shared prey species (Daphnia pulex). Results from the first experiment showed that P. carnea can strongly impact D. pulex populations, and that the PCIS of P. carnea decreases with an increase in P. carnea density. The second experiment showed that the effects of P. carnea on D. pulex populations depend on bottom-up factors that influence D. pulex population biomass and the reproductive potential of a D. pulex population relative to its size. The third experiment uncovered a non-additive interaction between P. carnea and C. americanus that resulted in a risk reducing situation for D. pulex in the presence of both predators. Together these experiments show that P. carnea imposes a strong negative impact on D. pulex, that the magnitude of this negative impact is dependent on the P. carnea density and the productivity of the system, and that the trophic ecology of P. carnea is modified by coexisting predator species.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a research grant to J.C.S. from Eastern Washington University’s Department of Biology. Field assistance was provided by Molly Pflueger, Jessi Miller, and Karin Divens. An earlier version of the manuscript was improved with comments from Steve Stein, John Havel and two anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, SCI 258, Cheney, WA, 99004, USA

    James C. Stegen & A. Ross Black

  2. Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, CB# 3280 Coker Hall, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    James C. Stegen

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  1. James C. Stegen
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Correspondence to James C. Stegen.

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Guest editors: H. J. Dumont, J. E. Havel, R. Gulati & P. Spaak / A Passion for Plankton: a tribute to the life of Stanley Dodson

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Stegen, J.C., Ross Black, A. Trophic ecology of an aquatic mite (Piona carnea) preying on Daphnia pulex: effects of predator density, nutrient supply and a second predator (Chaoborus americanus). Hydrobiologia 668, 171–182 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0454-x

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