Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Optimal foraging by a suspension-feeding copepod: responses to short-term and seasonal variation in food resources

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Laboratory radioisotope experiments were used to investigate the effects of phytoplankton seasonal succession on the selectivity and clearance rates of a suspension-feeding copepod in two Indiana lakes. Responses to particle size and quality were tested by allowing adult female Diaptomus birgei feeding in natural seston to select between a small (6×7 μm) flagellate (Chlamydomonas reinhardii) and a large, poor quality food (heat-killed Carteria olivieri, 22×25 μm). Short-term responses were tested in one lake by additional treatments in which copepods were acclimated for 5–6 h in filtered lake water (“starved”) or natural seston with added Chlamydomonas (“enriched”). Copepods from both lakes fed selectively on the small live flagellate during the spring bloom of edible phytoplankton but fed selectively on the larger, poor quality particle during the “clear water phase” when food was scarce. These results are interpreted as an interaction between the concentration-dependent selectivity for high quality foods predicted by optimal diet theory and a perceptual bias for large-sized particles. Selectivity for high-quality food was intermediate and clearance rates were depressed when total phytoplankton abundance was high but dominated by filamentous cyanobacteria. In each experiment copepods also responded to the short-term manipulations by exhibiting weaker discrimination against the poor quality particle in the starvation treatment and stronger discrimination in the enriched treatment. A two-way mixed model ANOVA revealed substantial short term (37%) and seasonal (53%) components to the total variance in selectivity. Clearance rates were also influenced by both phytoplankton succession and the short-term resource manipulations. As expected, clearance rates on the poor quality food were more sensitive to the abundance of alternative foods. These results show how the feeding behavior of a freshwater copepod is modulated by both seasonal and short-term variation in natural food.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bern L (1990) Size-related discrimination of nutritive and inert particles by freshwater zooplankton. J Plankton Res 12: 1059–1067

    Google Scholar 

  • Bern L (1994) Particle selection over a broad size range by crustacean zooplankton. Freshwat Biol 32:105–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnison BK (1980) Modified DMSO extraction for chlorophyll analysis of phytoplankton. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 37:727–733

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns CW, Gilbert JJ (1993) Predation on ciliates by freshwater calanoid copepods: rates of predation and relative vulnerabilities of prey. Freshwat Biol 30:377–393

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns CW, Hegarty B (1995) Diet selection by copepods in the presence of cyanobacteria. J Plankton Res 16:1671–1690

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen CY, Folt CL (1993) Measures of food quality as demographic predictors in freshwater copepods. J Plankton Res 15: 1247–1262

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesson J (1983) The estimation and analysis of preference and its relationship to foraging models. Ecology 65:1297–1304

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow-Frasier P (1986a) The effects of handling and acclimation period on the grazing rate of Daphnia and Diaptomus. Hydrobiologia 137:203–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow-Frasier P (1986b) An empirical model to predict in situ grazing rate of Diaptomus minutus Lilljeborg on small algal particles. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 43:1065–1070

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow-Frasier P, Sprules WG (1992) Type-3 functional response in limnetic suspension-feeders, as demonstrated by in situ grazing rates. Hydrobiologia 232:175–191

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR (1985) Relations between filter mesh-size, feeding mode, and capture efficiency for cladocerans feeding on ultrafine particles. Arch Hydrobiol Beih Ergeb Limnol 21:125–134

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR (1988a) Discrimination between algae and artificial particles by freshwater and marine copepods. Limnol Oceanogr 33:397–408

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR (1988b) Discrimination between algae and detritus by freshwater and marine zooplankton. Bull Mar Sci 43:486–499

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR (1989) Optimal foraging theory as a predictor of chemically mediated food selection by suspension feeding copepods. Limnol Oceanogr 34:140–154

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR (1990) Retention efficiency, perceptual bias, and active choice as mechanisms of food selection by suspension-feeding zooplankton. In: Hughes RN (ed) Behavioural mechanisms of food selection. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 569–594

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR (1993) Hunger-dependent diet selection in suspension-feeding zooplankton. In: Hughes RN (ed) Diet selection: an interdisciplinary approach to foraging behavior. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 102–123

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR (1995) Effects of between-lake variation in food abundance on the feeding behavior of calanoid copepods. Freshwat Biol 33:171–180

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR, Moxter F (1991) Foraging on cyanobacteria by copepods: responses to chemical defenses and resource abundance. Ecology 72:1820–1834

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR, Watson MD (1991) Remote detection of algae by copepods: responses to algal size, odors and motility. J Plankton Res 13:1203–1222

    Google Scholar 

  • DeMott WR, Zhang Q, Carmichael WW (1991) Effects of toxic cyanobacteria and purified toxins on the survival and feeding of a copepod and three species of Daphnia. Limnol Oceanogr 36:1346–1357

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth DJ, James MR (1991) Seasonal changes in size selective grazing by Calamoecia lucasi (Copepoda) in an eutrophic lake. Archiv Hydrobiol 122:23–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Fulton RS, Paerl HW (1987) Toxic and inhibitory effects of the blue-green alga Microcystis aeruginosa in herbivorous zooplankton. J Plankton Res 9:837–855

    Google Scholar 

  • Gliwicz ZM (1977) Food size selection and seasonal succession of filter feeding zooplankton in a eutrophic lake. Ekol Pol A 25:179–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamburger, Boëtius F (1987) Ontogeny of growth, respiration and feeding rate of the freshwater calanoid copepod Eudiaptomus graciloides. J Plankton Res 9:589–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart R (1987) Observations on calanoid diet, seston, phytoplankton-zooplankton relationships, and inferences on calanoid food limitation in a silt-laden reservoir. Arch Hydrobiol 111:67–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart R, Santer B (1994) Nutritional suitability of some uni-algal diets for freshwater calanoids: unexpected inadequacies of commonly used edible greens and others. Freshwat Biol 31:109–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassett RP, Landry MR (1988) Short-term changes in feeding and digestion by the copepod Calanus pacificus. Mar Biol 99: 63–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillbricht-Ilkowska A (1977) Trophic relations and energy flow in pelagic plankton. Pol Ecol Stud 3:3–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntley ME (1981) Nonselective, nonsaturated feeding by three calanoid copepod species in the Labrador Sea. Limnol Oceanogr 26:831–842

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntley ME (1988) Feeding biology of Calanus: a new perspective. Hydrobiologia 167/168:83–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntley ME, Sykes PF, Rohan S, Marin V (1986) Chemically-mediated rejection of dinoflagellate prey by the copepods Calanus pacificus and Paracalanus parvus: mechanism, occurrence and significance. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 28:105–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerfoot WC, Kirk KL (1991) Degree of taste discrimination among suspension-feeding cladocerans and copepods. Limnol Oceanogr 36:1107–1123

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleppel GS (1993) On the diets of calanoid copepods. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 99:183–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampert W, Muck P (1985) Multiple aspects of food limitation in zooplankton communities: the Daphnia-Eudiaptomus example. Ergeb Limnol 21:311–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampert W, Tylor BE (1985) Zooplankton grazing in a eutrophic lake: implications of diel vertical migration. Ecology 66:68–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampert W, Fleckner W, Rai H, Taylor BE (1986) Phytoplankton control by grazing zooplankton: a study on the spring clearwater phase. Limnol Oceanogr 31:478–490

    Google Scholar 

  • Lampert W, Schmitt R-D, Muck P (1988) Vertical migration of freshwater zooplankton: test of some hypotheses predicting a metabolic advantage. Bull Mar Sci 43:620–640

    Google Scholar 

  • Landry MR, Hassett RP (1985) Time scales in behavioral, biochemical, and energetic adaptations to food-limiting conditions. Arch Hydrobiol Beih Ergeb Limnol 21:209–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehman JT (1976) The filter feeder as an optimal forager, and the predicted shapes of feeding curves. Limnol Oceanogr 21: 501–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Manley BFJ, Miller P, Cook LM (1972) Analysis of a selective predation experiment. Am Nat 106:719–736

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayzaud P, Poulet SA (1978) The importance of the time factor in the response of zooplankton to varying concentrations of naturally occurring particulate matter. Limnol Oceanogr 23: 1144–1154

    Google Scholar 

  • Melack JM (1985) Interactions of detrital particles and phytoplankton. Hydrobiologia 125:209–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Muck P, Lampert W (1980) Feeding of freshwater filter-feeders at very low food concentrations. J Plankton Res 2:367–379

    Google Scholar 

  • Muck P, Lampert W (1984) An experimental study on the importance of food conditions for the relative abundance of calanoid copepods and cladocerans. I. Comparative feeding studies with Eudiaptomus gracilis and Daphnia longispina. Arch Hydrobiol (Suppl) 66:157–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Paerl HW (1980) Attachment of microorganisms to living and detrital surfaces in freshwater systems. In: Bitton G and Marshall KC (eds) Adsorption of microorganisms to surfaces. Wiley New York, pp 375–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Paffenhöfer G-A, Van Sant KB (1985) The feeding response of a marine planktonic copepod to quantity and quality of particles. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 27:55–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters RH (1984) Methods for the study of feeding, filtering and assimilation by zooplankton. In: Downing JA, Rigler FH (eds) A manual on methods for the assessment of secondary productivity of fresh waters, 2nd edn. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 336–412

    Google Scholar 

  • Poulet SA (1983) Factors controlling utilization of non-algal diets by particle-grazing copepods. A review. Oceanol Acta 6: 221–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Price HJ, Paffenhöfer G-A (1985) Perception of food availability by calanoid copepods. Arch Hydrobiol Beih Ergeb Limnol 21: 115–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Richman S, Dodson SI (1983) The effect of food quality on feeding and respiration by Daphnia and Diaptomus. Limnol Oceanogr 28:948–956

    Google Scholar 

  • Runge JA (1980) Effects of hunger and season on the feeding behavior of Calanus pacificus. Limnol Oceanogr 25:134–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Santer B (1993) Potential importance of algae in the diet of adult Cyclops vicinus. Freshwat Biol 30:269–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Santer B (1994) Influences of food type and concentration on the development of Eudiaptomus gracilis, and their implications for calanoid-cyclopoid copepod interactions. Arch Hydrobiol 131:141–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry, second edn. Freeman San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Sommer U, Gliwicz ZM, Lampert W, Duncan A (1986) The PEG-model of seasonal succession of planktonic events in freshwaters. Arch Hydrobiol 106:433–471

    Google Scholar 

  • Stemberger RS (1981) A general approach to the culture of planktonic rotifers. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 38:721–724

    Google Scholar 

  • Strickland JDH, Parsons TR (1968) A practical handbook of sea-water analysis. Fish Res B Can, Queen's Printer, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner JT (1984) Zooplankton feeding ecology: contents of fecal pellets of the copepods Eucalanus pileatus and Paracalanus quasimodo from continental self water of the Gulf of Mexico. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 15:27–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner JT, Tester PA (1989) Zooplankton feeding ecology: nonselective feeding by copepods Acartia tonsa Dana, Centropages velificatus. De Oiveira, and Eucalanus pileatus Giesbrecht in the plume of the Mississippi River. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 126: 21–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanderploeg HA (1981) Seasonal particle-size selection by Diaptomus sicilis in offshore Lake Michigan. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 38:504–517

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanderploeg HA (1990) Feeding mechanisms and their relation to particle selection and feeding in suspension-feeding zooplankton. In: Wotton R (ed) The biology of particles in aquatic systems. Chemical Rubber Company Press, Boca Raton, Florida, pp 183–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanderploeg HA, Scavia D, Liebig JR (1984) Feeding rate of Diaptomus sicilis and its relation to selectivity and effective food concentration in algal mixtures and in Lake Michigan. J Plankton Res 6:919–941

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanderploeg HA, Paffenhöfer G-A and Liebig JR (1988) Diaptomus vs net phytoplankton: effects of algal size and morphology on selectivity of a behaviorally flexible, omnivorous copepod. Bull Mar Sci 43:377–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Vanderploeg HA, Paffenhöfer G-A, Liebig JR (1990) Cinematographic observations and hypotheses on the concentration-variable selectivity of calanoid copepods for particles of different food quality. In: Hughes RN (ed) Behavioural mechanisms of food selection. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 595–613

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Crooked Lake Biological Station, Indiana-Purdue University, 46805, Fort Wayne, IN, USA

    William R. DeMott

Authors
  1. William R. DeMott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

DeMott, W.R. Optimal foraging by a suspension-feeding copepod: responses to short-term and seasonal variation in food resources. Oecologia 103, 230–240 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00329085

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00329085

Key words

Search

Navigation