Phytoplankton, not allochthonous carbon, sustains herbivorous zooplankton production.

ABSTRACT: Terrestrial organic matter inputs have long been thought to play an important role in aquatic food web dynamics. Results from recent whole lake (13)C addition experiments suggest terrestrial particulate organic carbon (t-POC) inputs account for a disproportionate portion of zooplankton production. For example, several studies concluded that although t-POC only represented approximately 20% of the flux of particulate carbon available to herbivorous zooplankton, this food source accounted for approximately 50% of the C incorporated by zooplankton. We tested the direct dietary impact of t-POC (from the leaves of riparian vegetation) and various phytoplankton on Daphnia magna somatic growth, reproduction, growth efficiency, and lipid composition. By itself, t-POC was a very poor quality resour

SUBMITTER: Brett MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2795543 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature