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Effects of algal food quality on sexual reproduction of D aphnia magna
Abstract The objective of our study was to investigate sexual reproduction of D aphnia magna associated with mating behaviors and hatching rates, according to different algal food sources. Since a diatom is known to contain more abundant long‐chain poly unsaturated fatty acids ( PUFA s), we hypothes...
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Published in: | Ecology and evolution 2016-05, Vol.6 (9), p.2817-2832 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Abstract
The objective of our study was to investigate sexual reproduction of
D
aphnia magna
associated with mating behaviors and hatching rates, according to different algal food sources. Since a diatom is known to contain more abundant long‐chain poly unsaturated fatty acids (
PUFA
s), we hypothesized that the diatom‐consuming
D. magna
would exhibit more successful reproduction rates. Upon the hypothesis, we designed three experiments using two algal species, a green alga (
Chlorella vulgaris
) and a diatom (
Stephanodiscus hantzschii
). From the results, we found that the mating frequency and copulation duration increased in the treatment with
S. hantzschii
, resulting in a significant increase of hatching rates of resting eggs. In the other two repetitive mating strategies (e.g., one female vs. multiple males, and one male vs. multiple females), we found that the hatching rates of resting eggs were greater in the
S. hantzschii
treatment. In addition to the mating strategy, male body size significantly increased in the diatom treatment, hence average diameter of penis was also statistically different among the treatments (greater diameter in the
S. hantzschii
treatment). To examine the effect of algal food quality, we estimated quantity of fatty acids in the two algal species. Our result showed that
S. hantzschii
had a higher proportion of long‐chain
PUFA
s than
C. vulgaris
. Furthermore, a stable isotope analysis revealed that carbon and nitrogen originated from
S. hantzschii
were more assimilated to
D. magna
. In summary, our study manifested that diatom consumption of
D. magna
leads to more successful sexual reproduction. We then discussed how the diatom consumption of zooplankton influences food web dynamics in a freshwater ecosystem. |
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ISSN: | 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
DOI: | 10.1002/ece3.2058 |