Selective predation and the species composition of arctic ponds

The zooplankton species composition of 135 ponds in the Churchill, Manitoba, area was determined. The predaceous copepod Heterocope septentrionalis was present in 99 of these habitats. Several species of calanoid copepod, but only a single morph of Daphnia middendorffiana, coexisted with this predat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Zoology
Main Authors: Hebert, Paul D. N., Loaring, Jaimie M.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1980
Subjects:
Animal Science and Zoology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Arctic
Churchill
Zooplankton
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z80-056
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z80-056
Description
Summary:The zooplankton species composition of 135 ponds in the Churchill, Manitoba, area was determined. The predaceous copepod Heterocope septentrionalis was present in 99 of these habitats. Several species of calanoid copepod, but only a single morph of Daphnia middendorffiana, coexisted with this predator. Two additional species of Daphnia and a second morph of D. middendorffiana were found in ponds lacking the predator. Experiments showed that these latter species were much more vulnerable to predation than the Daphnia morph that coexisted with Heterocope.

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