Full text

Turn on search term navigation

© 2023 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

In recent years, trait-based research on plankton has gained interest because of its potential to uncover general roles in ecology. While trait categories for phytoplankton and crustaceans have been posited, rotifer trait assessment has lagged behind. Here, we reviewed the literature to assess traits key to their life histories and provided a data matrix for the 138 valid genera of phylum Rotifera. We considered seven traits: habitat type, trophi type, presence of lorica and foot, predation defense attributes, corona type, and feeding traits. While most traits were morphological attributes and supposedly easy to assess, we were faced with several challenges regarding trait assignment. Feeding traits were especially difficult to assess for many genera because relevant information was missing. Our assembled trait matrix provides a foundation that will initiate additional research on rotifer functional diversity, diminish the misclassification of rotifer genera into trait categories, and facilitate studies across trophic levels.

Details

Title
Trait-Based Research on Rotifera: The Holy Grail or Just Messy?
Author
Obertegger, Ulrike 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Robert Lee Wallace 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Research Group Hydrobiology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy 
 Department of Biology, Ripon College, Ripon, WI 54971, USA; [email protected] 
First page
1459
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20734441
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2806608184
Copyright
© 2023 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.