Join us for a seminar with Irene Feniova from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. Students, faculty, and staff are welcome; light refreshments will be served. April 26, Bengal Pause, 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Classroom Building B119
"The effects of temperature on the species composition and biomass of cladoceran communities"
Irene Feniova
Senior Scientific Researcher, Institute of Ecology and Evolution,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Fulbright Scholar at Oklahoma State University, Department of Zoology, Stillwater, OK
Although temperature is known to be an important factor responsible for cladoceran community dynamics, the effects of temperature on large and small bodied cladoceran species are not well understood. Three eutrophic lakes locating within the same region but exposed to different temperature conditions were studied. We found that although the lakes were located close to each other, they were dominated by different cladoceran species. Large bodied species occurred at lower temperatures and disappeared at enhanced temperatures. A set of laboratory experiments with competing large and small cladoceran species was also conducted at different temperatures and resource levels. We suggested that the established differences in species structure were related to combination of water temperature and food conditions. Small bodied species can replace large bodied species under the combined effects of enhanced temperature and lower food supply. This mechanism promotes cladoceran communities to sustain their total biomass despite changes in species composition. Estimations of the ingestion rates from the experiments provided support for our results. Small bodied species increased their filtration activity at enhanced temperature in contrast to large bodied species which decreased their ingestion rates with rising temperature.
