Predation risk alters life history strategies in an oceanic copepod
The ubiquitous oceanic copepod Calanus finmarchicus is the major link between primary producers and important fish stocks in the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. Despite over a century of research on growth and development of this key species, the effect of predation risk on these processes r...
| Published in: | Ecology |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Ecological Society of America
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2726764 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3214 |
| Summary: | The ubiquitous oceanic copepod Calanus finmarchicus is the major link between primary producers and important fish stocks in the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. Despite over a century of research on growth and development of this key species, the effect of predation risk on these processes remains elusive. We tested how food level and chemical cues from a fish predator influence growth and development of C. finmarchicus, using a predator naïve laboratory population. Copepods reached adult stage earlier both in response to high food and to predator cues in our experiment. High food also increased growth and lipid accumulation. In contrast, perceived predation risk triggered reduced size and lipid fullness, indicating a decoupling of growth and development rates. Our results demonstrate that chemical predator cues can influence life history strategies in C. finmarchicus, and suggest that present and future patterns in oceanic zooplankton size and population dynamics may also reflect differences in predation risk. publishedVersion © 2020 The Authors. Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Ecological Society of America This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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