Food quantity and quality shapes reproductive strategies of Daphnia.

ABSTRACT: In freshwater environments, one of the challenges aquatic grazers face are periods of suboptimal food quantity and quality. In a life table experiment, the effects of food quantity (a gradient of algae concentration) and quality (a diet of cyanobacteria) on the life histories and resource allocation strategy in Daphnia magna were tested. Growth-related traits were similarly affected under different food regimes while the reproductive strategies differed in animals exposed to low food quantity and quality. The per-clutch investment (clutch volume) did not differ between Daphnia fed with cyanobacteria and underfed mothers, but resources were differently allocated; underfed mothers increased their per-offspring investment by producing fewer, but larger eggs, whereas cyanobacteri

SUBMITTER: Bednarska A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9343855 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature