Fluctuating temperatures alter environmental pathogen transmission in a Daphnia-pathogen system.

ABSTRACT: Environmental conditions are rarely constant, but instead vary spatially and temporally. This variation influences ecological interactions and epidemiological dynamics, yet most experimental studies examine interactions under constant conditions. We examined the effects of variability in temperature on the host-pathogen relationship between an aquatic zooplankton host (Daphnia laevis) and an environmentally transmitted fungal pathogen (Metschnikowia bicuspidata). We manipulated temperature variability by exposing all populations to mean temperatures of 20°C for the length of the experiments, but introducing periods of 1, 2, and 4 hr each day where the populations were exposed to 28°C followed by periods of the same length (1, 2, and 4 hr, respectively) where the populations w

SUBMITTER: Dallas T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6093173 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature