A matter of time and proportion: the availability of phosphorus-rich phytoplankton influences growth and behavior of copepod nauplii.

ABSTRACT: Although consumers may use selective feeding to cope with suboptimal resource quality, little work has examined the mechanisms that underlie selective feeding, the efficiency of this behavior or its influence on consumer growth rate. Furthermore, a consumer's exposure to suboptimal resources may also influence the consumer's behavior and life history, including growth rate. Here, we studied how the availability of P-rich and P-poor phytoplankton influences the growth and behavior of copepod nauplii. We observed that copepod nauplii preferentially feed on P-rich prey. We also found that even relatively short exposure to P-rich phytoplankton yielded higher nauplii growth rates, whereas the presence of P-poor phytoplankton in a mixture impaired growth. Overall, we observed that swimming speed

SUBMITTER: Meunier CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7484934 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature