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© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Simple Summary

Climate warming is evident at many cold sites, including high-altitude and high-latitude lakes. The cladoceran Daphnia pulex, with high calcium (Ca) demands for its heavily calcified exoskeleton, is an ecologically important zooplankton species inhabiting these lakes, many of which are Ca-limited. Other stressors, such as warming and food limitation, may interact with Ca limitation and affect Daphnia populations adapted to these cold environments. In a study of factorial design, a clone of North American Daphnia cf. pulex was exposed to a low-Ca gradient, to temperature rises within its preferred range and expected in these lakes, and to conditions of low and high food quantity. Results suggest that climate warming and higher food availability will make D. pulex populations more tolerant to Ca limitation. Changes in the abundance of Daphnia may be relevant to ecological processes and the functioning of aquatic ecosystems.

Abstract

Calcium (Ca) is an important driver of community structure in freshwaters. We examined the combined effects of increased temperatures and variations in food quantity on the tolerance to low Ca of Daphnia pulex. The aim was to predict the impact of climate warming on this keystone zooplanktonic species in cold-climate lakes. We conducted a factorial life-history experiment in a clone of North American Daphnia cf. pulex to analyse the interaction effects of a temperature increase (17.5 °C–21 °C) within their physiological preferred range and expected by climate warming over the next few decades and a narrow Ca gradient (0.25–1.74 mg Ca L−1) under stressful vs. abundant food conditions. We found a striking positive synergistic effect of Ca and temperature on D. pulex reproduction at high food conditions. Although the increase in temperature to 21 °C greatly reduced survival, high energy allocation to reproduction at high food levels allowed the population to succeed in poor Ca (<0.25 mg Ca L−1). Results suggest that climate warming and higher food availability will make the populations of many cold and Ca-limited lakes more tolerant to low Ca levels with higher growth population rates, thereby altering zooplanktonic community structures and inducing potential cascading effects on the food web.

Details

Title
A Non-Stressful Temperature Rise and Greater Food Availability Could Increase Tolerance to Calcium Limitation of Daphnia cf. pulex (Sensu Hebert, 1995) Populations in Cold Soft-Water Lakes
Author
Ramos-Rodríguez, Eloísa 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Pérez-Martínez, Carmen 1 ; Conde-Porcuna, José María 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain; Instituto del Agua, Universidad de Granada, 18003 Granada, Spain 
First page
1539
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20797737
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2728434308
Copyright
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.