Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T05:18:27.847Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Top-down control by insect predators in an intermittent pond – a field experiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2009

A. Katarina Magnusson  and
D. Dudley Williams
A. Katarina Magnusson*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto at Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada
D. Dudley Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto at Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada
*
a.katarina.magnusson@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

The role of predation in the regulation of freshwater communities is predicted to decrease along a habitat-duration gradient, from permanent to episodic waters. We tested the role of invertebrate predation in shaping the community structure in a fishless temperate intermittent pond with a three month long hydroperiod by comparing the community structure in two large field enclosures (4.2 m2) with added predators to two enclosures without added predators. The added predators reflected the density and composition of top predators in the pond and comprised weekly additions of dytiscid larvae (for three weeks) followed by weekly additions of odonate nymphs (for five weeks). Compared with the enclosure controls, the predator addition enclosures had fewer dipterans and crustaceans, higher concentrations of benthic ciliates and other protozoans, higher chlorophyll a and bacterial counts, and lower abundance of rotifers. Many treatment effects were temporally variable and this appeared to be linked to predator identity, predator size, and prey availability. Compared with the surrounding pondwater, the enclosed areas had lower abundance of molluscs, ostracods and cladocerans but higher abundance of cyclopoids and higher concentrations of phytoplankton and ciliates. Despite high productivity and seasonally variable predator and prey assemblages, which likely buffered against strong top-down control, we conclude that the top-predators regulate the dipterans and zooplankton in this intermittent pond and that the effects propagated down through the food web to lower trophic levels.

Keywords

Intermittent pondpredationinvertebratestrophic cascadeOdonataDytiscidaefood web
Type
Research Article
Information
Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , 2009 , pp. 131 - 143
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aditya, G. and Saha, G.K., 2006. Predation of the beetle Rhantus sikkimensis (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) on the larvae of Chironomus meigen (Diptera: Chironomidae) of the Darjeeling Himalayas of India. Limnologica , 36, 251–257. CrossRef
Andrushchyshyn, O.P., Magnusson, A.K. and Williams, D.D., 2003. Ciliate populations in temporary freshwater ponds: seasonal dynamics and influential factors. Freshwat. Biol. , 48, 548–564. CrossRef
APHA (American Public Health Association), AWWA (American Water Works Association) and WPCF (Water Pollution Control Federation), 1995. 10200H Chlorophyll. In: American Public Health Association Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 10.17–10.24.
Arner M., Koivisto S., Norberg J. and Kautsky N., 1998. Trophic interactions in rockpool food webs: regulation of zooplankton and phytoplankton by Notonecta and Daphnia. Freshwat. Biol., 39, 79–90.
Arnott, S.E., Jackson, A.B. and Alarie, Y., 2006. Distribution and potential effects of water beetles in lakes recovering from acidification. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. , 25, 811–824. CrossRef
Arts M.T., Maly E.J. and Pasitschniak M., 1981. The influence of Acilius (Dytiscidae) predation on Daphnia in a small pond. Limnol. Oceanogr., 26, 1172–1175.
Batzer, D.P. and Resh, V.H., 1991. Trophic interactions among a beetle predator, a chironomid grazer, and periphyton in a seasonal wetland. Oikos , 60, 251–257. CrossRef
Batzer, D.P. and Wissinger, S.A., 1996. Ecology of insect communities in nontidal wetlands. Annu. Rev. Entomol. , 41, 75–100. CrossRef
Bazzanti, M., Della Bella, V. and Seminara, M., 2003. Factors affecting macroinvertebrate communities in astatic ponds in central Italy. J. Freshwat. Ecol. , 18, 537–548. CrossRef
Berninger U.G., Finlay B.J. and Kuuppoleinikki P., 1991. Protozoan control of bacterial abundances in fresh-water. Limn. Oceanogr., 36, 139–147.
Biggs, J., Williams, P.M., Whitfield, M., Nicolet, P. and Weatherby, A., 2005. 15 years of pond assessment in Britain: results and lessons learned from the work of pond conservation. Aquat. Conserv. Mar. Freshwat. Ecosyst. , 15, 693–714. CrossRef
Blaustein, L., 1998. Influence of the predatory backswimmer, Notonecta maculata, on invertebrate community structure. Ecol. Entomol. , 23, 246–252.
Blaustein, L., Kotler, B.P. and Ward, D., 1995. Direct and indirect effects of a predatory backswimmer (Notonecta maculata) on community structure of desert temporary pools. Ecol. Entomol. , 20, 311–318. CrossRef
Burks R.L., Jeppesen E. and Lodge D.M., 2001. Littoral zone structures as Daphnia refugia against fish predators. Limnol. Oceanogr., 46, 230–237.
Carchini, G., Della Bella, V., Solimini, A.G. and Bazzanti, M., 2007. Relationships between the presence of odonate species and environmental characteristics in lowland ponds of central Italy. Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim. , 43, 81–87. CrossRef
Cooper, S.D., 1983. Selective predation on cladocerans by common pond insects. Can. J. Zool. , 61, 879–886. CrossRef
Corbet P.S., 1999. Dragonflies – Behavior and Ecology of Odonata, Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, New York.
De Szalay F.A. and Resh V.H., 2000. Factors influencing macroinvertebrate colonization of seasonal wetlands: responses to emergent plant cover. Freshwat. Biol., 45, 295–308.
Deding, J., 1988. Gut content analysis of diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae). Natura Jutlandica , 22, 177–184.
Febria C.M., Magnusson A.K. and Williams D.D., 2005. Seasonal abundance and prey selection of the nymphs of three sympatric species of Sympetrum (Odonata: Libellulidae) in an intermittent pond. Can. Entomol., 137, 723–727.
Hall D.J., Cooper W.E. and Werner E.E., 1970. Experimental approach to production dynamics and structure of freshwater animal communities. Limnol. Oceanogr., 15, 839–928.
Hampton, S.E. and Gilbert, J.J., 2001. Observations of insect predation on rotifers. Hydrobiologia , 446, 115–121. CrossRef
Hauser A., Attrill M.J. and Cotton P.A., 2006. Effects of habitat complexity on the diversity and abundance of macrofauna colonizing artificial kelp holdfasts. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 325, 93–100.
Hoekman, D., 2007. Top-down and bottom-up regulation in a detritus-based aquatic food web: a repeated field experiment using the Pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) inquiline community. Am. Midl. Nat. , 157, 52–62. CrossRef
Jeffries M., 1988. Individual vulnerability to predation the effect of alternative prey types. Freshwat. Biol., 19, 49–56.
Jeffries, M., 1996. Effects of Notonecta glauca predation on Cyphon larvae (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) populations in small, seasonal ponds. Arch. Hydrobiol. , 136, 413–420.
Johansson, A. and Nilsson, A.N., 1992. Dytiscus latissimus and D. circumcinctus (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae) larvae as predators on 3 case-making caddis larvae. Hydrobiologia , 248, 201–213. CrossRef
Johansson, F. and Suhling, F., 2004. Behaviour and growth of dragonfly larvae along a permanent to temporary water habitat gradient. Ecol. Entomol. , 29, 196–202. CrossRef
Johnson, D.M., Pierce, C.L., Martin, T.H., Watson, C.N., Bohanan, R.E. and Crowley, P.H., 1987. Prey depletion by odonate larvae – combining evidence from multiple field experiments. Ecology , 68, 1459–1465. CrossRef
Kehl, S. and Dettner, K., 2003. Predation by pioneer water beetles (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae) from sandpit ponds, based on crop content analysis and laboratory experiments. Arch. Hydrobiol. , 158, 109–126. CrossRef
Kneitel, J.M. and Miller, T.E., 2002. Resource and top-predator regulation in the pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) inquiline community. Ecology , 83, 680–688. CrossRef
Koegel, F., 1987. On the biology and ecology of Rhantus consputus strm. Coleoptera Dytiscidae. Entomol. Arb. Mus. G. Frey Tutzing Bei Muenchen , 35-36, 5–20.
Koperski P., 1998. What do the predatory, littoral insects eat? Wiad. Ekol., 44, 95–130.
Magnusson, A.K. and Williams, D.D., 2006. The roles of natural temporal and spatial variation versus biotic influences in shaping the physicochemical environment of intermittent ponds: a case study. Arch. Hydrobiol. , 165, 537–556. CrossRef
Nakano, S., Ishii, N., Manage, P.M. and Kawabata, Z., 1998. Trophic roles of heterotrophic nanoflagellates and ciliates among planktonic organisms in a hypereutrophic pond. Aquat. Microb. Ecol. , 16, 153–161. CrossRef
Nilsson, A.N., 1986. Community structure in the Dytiscidae (Coleoptera) of a northern swedish seasonal pond. Ann. Zool. Fenn. , 23, 39–47.
Nilsson, A.N. and Söderström, O., 1988. Larval consumption rates, interspecific predation, and local guild composition of egg-overwintering Agabus (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae) species in vernal ponds. Oecologia , 76, 131–137. CrossRef
Ortega-Mayagoita, E., Rojo, C. and Rodrigo, M.A., 2002. Factors masking the trophic cascade in shallow eutrophic wetlands: evidence from a microcosm study. Arch. Hydrobiol. , 155, 43–63. CrossRef
Peckarsky, B.L., 1982. Aquatic insect predator-prey relations. Bioscience , 32, 261–266. CrossRef
Pritchard G., 1964. The prey of dragonfly larvae (Odonata; Anisoptera) in ponds in northern Alberta. Can. J. Zool., 42, 785–800.
Pritchard, G., 1965. Prey capture by dragonfly larvae (Odonata – Anisoptera). Can. J. Zool. , 43, 271–289. CrossRef
Rubbo, M.J., Mirza, R.S., Belden, L.K., Falkenbach, J.J., Storrs, S.I. and Kiesecker, J.M., 2006. Evaluating a predator-prey interaction in the field: the interaction between beetle larvae (predator) and tadpoles (prey). J. Zool. , 269, 1–5. CrossRef
Schmid-Araya J.M. and Schmid P.E., 2000. Trophic relationships: integrating meiofauna into a realistic benthic food web. Freshwat. Biol., 44, 149–163.
Schneider, D.W., 1997. Predation and food web structure along a habitat duration gradient. Oecologia , 110, 567–575. CrossRef
Schneider D.W., 1999. Snowmelt ponds in Wisconsin – Influence of hydroperiod on invertebrate community structure. In: Batzer D.P., Rader R.B. and Wissinger S.A. (eds.), Invertebrates in Freshwater Wetlands of North America – Ecology and Management, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
Schneider, D.W. and Frost, T.M., 1996. Habitat duration and community structure in temporary ponds. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. , 15, 64–86. CrossRef
Sih, A., Crowley, P., McPeek, M., Petranka, J. and Strohmeier, K., 1985. Predation, competition, and prey communities – A review of field experiments. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. , 16, 269–311. CrossRef
Smith R.F. and Pritchard A.E., 1968. Odonata. Aquatic Insects of California. In: Usinger R.L. (ed.), University of California Press, 106–109.
Stav, G., Blaustein, L. and Margalit, Y., 2000. Influence of nymphal Anax imperator (Odonata: Aeshnidae) on oviposition by the mosquito Culiseta longiareolata (Diptera: Culicidae) and community structure in temporary pools. J. Vect. Ecol. , 25, 190–202.
Taniguchi H. and Tokeshi M., 2004. Effects of habitat complexity on benthic assemblages in a variable environment. Freshwat. Biol., 49, 1164–1178.
Tate, A. and Hershey, A., 2003. Selective feeding by larval dytiscids (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) and effects of fish predation on upper littoral zone macroinvertebrate communities of arctic lakes. Hydrobiologia , 497, 13–23. CrossRef
Thorp, J.H. and Cothran, M.L., 1984. Regulation of fresh-water community structure at multiple intensities of dragonfly predation. Ecology , 65, 1546–1555. CrossRef
Wellborn, G.A., Skelly, D.K. and Werner, E.E., 1996. Mechanisms creating community structure across a freshwater habitat gradient. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. , 27, 337–363. CrossRef
Wiggins, G.B., Mackay, R.J. and Smith, I.M., 1980. Evolutionary and ecological strategies of animals in annual temporary pools. Arch. Hydrob. Suppl. , 58, 97–226.
Williams D.D., 2006. The Biology of Temporary Waters, Oxford University Press.
Williamson C.E. and Reid J.W., 2001. Copepoda. In: Thorp J.H. and Covich A.P. (eds.), Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates, 2nd edition, Academic Press, New York, 915–954.
Wojdak, J.M., 2005. Relative strength of top-down, bottom-up, and consumer species richness effects on pond ecosystems. Ecol. Monogr. , 75, 489–504. CrossRef