Asexual reproduction changes predator population dynamics in a life predator-prey system.

ABSTRACT: Many organisms display oscillations in population size. Theory predicts that these fluctuations can be generated by predator-prey interactions, and empirical studies using life model systems, such as a rotifer-algae community consisting of Brachionus calyciflorus as predator and Chlorella vulgaris as prey, have been successfully used for studying such dynamics. B. calyciflorus is a cyclical parthenogen (CP) and clones often differ in their sexual propensity, that is, the degree to which they engage into sexual or asexual (clonal) reproduction. Since sexual propensities can affect growth rates and population sizes, we hypothesized that this might also affect population oscillations. Here, we studied the dynamical behaviour of B. calyciflorus clones representing e

SUBMITTER: Scheuerl T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7594307 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature