Effects of vertebrate and invertebrate predators on the life history of Daphnia similis and Moina macrocopa (Crustacea: Cladocera)

Author(s):  
Jayme Magalhães Santangelo ◽  
Bruno Nascimento Soares ◽  
Thecia Paes ◽  
Paulina Maia-Barbosa ◽  
Ralph Tollrian ◽  
...  

Cladocerans serve as prey for several aquatic predators like fish and Chaoborus larvae. However, because different predators consume different sized prey, cladocerans may display differing life-history responses depending on predator type. Although most studies use the genus Daphnia to evaluate phenotypic plasticity in cladocerans, other genera might also respond to predator infochemicals. In this study, we compared life-history responses of Daphnia similis and Moina macrocopa to infochemicals released by a vertebrate (fish) and an invertebrate (Chaoborus) predator. As expected, some life-history parameters were altered depending on the type of predator. Overall, fish infochemicals increased the size at primipara, clutch size, net reproductive rate and longevity in both cladocerans. We argue that increased body lengths in the presence of fish promote bigger clutch sizes. Conversely, responses to Chaoborus were weaker, affecting only the net reproductive rates and longevity. Non-daphniid cladocerans may display similar responses to Daphnia when exposed to predators. However, as Daphnia is usually underrepresented in tropical lakes, studying other genera might offer new insights into predator-prey relationships and food webs in lake ecosystems.

1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip S. Barker

The life history and reproductive rates of Glycyphagus domesticus (de Geer) were examined at different temperatures and two humidities. Most rapid development of the eggs occurred at 24.4 °C; the optimum temperature for the post-embryonic stages was 22.2 °C. A higher percentage of hypopi were formed at 70 to 75% than at 95 to 100% relative humidity. G. domesticus has a net reproductive rate of over 20, which was intermediate between those of Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Schrank) and Aëroglyphus robustus (Banks).


2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 2116-2120
Author(s):  
M Amin Jalali ◽  
M Reza Mehrnejad ◽  
Peter C Ellsworth

Abstract Aspects of the nutritional ecology and life histories of five predatory coccinellids (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)—two arboreal predator species, Oenopia conglobata contaminata (Menetries) and Adalia bipunctata (Linnaeus), and three herbaceous dwelling predator species, Coccinella undecimpunctata aegyptica (Reiche), Exochomus nigripennis (Erichson), and Hippodamia variegata (Goeze) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)—were compared when fed either Agonoscena pistaciae Burckhardt and Lauterer (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae), the key psylla pest of pistachio trees, or Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a common aphid on herbaceous plants in pistachio orchards. The putative habitat preferences of four of the five coccinellids studied were consistent with their performance on the major herbivore present in those two habitats in terms of net reproductive rate. Oenopia conglobata contaminata and Ad. bipunctata showed higher net reproductive rates when fed on pistachio psylla prey, whereas C. undecimpunctata aegyptiaca and E. nigripennis had better reproductive output on aphid prey. Moreover, E. nigripennis was the most specialized of these generalist predators, eating more and reproducing better when fed aphids. Hippodamia variegata was relatively unaffected by the diet offered, suggesting greater ability to switch among herbivore prey and perhaps better potential as a biocontrol agent with abilities to exploit Ag. pistaciae without large life history tradeoffs.


1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 2321-2325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip S. Barker

The duration and mortality of immature stages of the predatory mite Cheyletus eruditus (Schrank) were examined at 14, 18.5, 22, and 25 °C and 76% RH. Life tables and schedules of female eggs laid by each female per day were made from records of daily oviposition and adult mortality. The net reproductive rate (ratio of total female births in two successive generations) of C. eruditus varies from 40.7 at 18.5 °C to 74.4 at 25 °C and brackets the net reproductive rates of the prey Lepidoglyphus destructor (Schrank). Mean generation time and finite rates of increase (multiplication per female each day) varied from 52.2 days and 1.073 at 18.5 °C to 24.2 days and 1.194 at 25 °C. Maximum longevity was 107, 67, and 56 days at 18.5, 22, and 25 °C, respectively. Cheyletus eruditus also consumed first-instar larvae of the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens), and first- and second-instar larvae of the flour mill beetle, Cryptolestes turcicus (Grouvelle).


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 850-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lev R. Ginzburg ◽  
Oskar Burger ◽  
John Damuth

One of Robert May's classic results was finding that population dynamics become chaotic when the average lifetime rate of reproduction exceeds a certain value. Populations whose reproductive rates exceed this May threshold probably become extinct. The May threshold in each case depends upon the shape of the density-dependence curve, which differs among models of population growth. However, species of different sizes and generation times that share a roughly similar density-dependence curve will also share a similar May threshold. Here, we argue that this fact predicts a striking allometric regularity among animal taxa: lifetime reproductive rate should be roughly independent of body size. Such independence has been observed in diverse taxa, but has usually been ascribed to a fortuitous combination of physiologically based life-history allometries. We suggest, instead, that the ecological elimination of unstable populations within groups that share a value of the May threshold is a likely cause of this allometry.


1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 2841-2851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl M. Way ◽  
Thomas E. Wissing

The pisidiid clams, Pisidium variabile (Prime) and Pisidium compressum (Prime), from permanent ponds in southwestern Ohio are iteroparous, bivoltine, and have approximate longevities of 1 year. Intrapopulation differences in life history characteristics are discussed in relation to environmental heterogeneity. For the P. variabile population, only age at first reproduction (110 and 226 days for the spring and fall generations, respectively) is different for both annual generations. This is due to differences in environmental variables (temperature, dissolved oxygen levels, food availability) which set physiological limits on growth, reproduction, and maintenance functions. The spring and fall generations of P. compressum show differences in several life history characteristics: age at first reproductive (122 and 270 days, respectively), net reproductive rate (8.7 and 3.7, respectively), r (0.005 and 0.003, respectively), and the number of broods per year (2 and 1, respectively). The results of this study tend to question the validity of using current theories (e.g, r- and K-selection, bet-hedging) which attempt to predict the set of demographic characteristics that should be found in populations under varying environmental circumstances.


2004 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. M. Russell ◽  
the late R. J. Brown ◽  
M. N. Brown

The white-breasted robin, Eopsaltria georgiana, is endemic to south-western Australia. We studied breeding, dispersal and survival in known groups from 1978 until 1987, with some groups followed until 1992, in Eucalyptus diversicolor (karri) forest near Manjimup, Western Australia. E. georgiana bred cooperatively, with 66% of groups including one or more birds in addition to the breeding pair (mean group size 3.1); these helpers were predominantly males and assisted the senior male in feeding the female on the nest and the young and defending the territory. The survival of adults was high (males 86%; females 79%). Breeding territories and groups persisted from year to year, although in the non-breeding season, males ranged more widely. Dispersal was female-biased; most females and some males dispersed in their first year. Divorce was rare; breeding males that disappeared were replaced by a helper from within the group if one was present, and females were replaced from outside the group. Eggs were laid between July and December. Clutch size was almost always 2, incubation lasted 16–17 days and nestlings fledged 13–14 days later. Juveniles were dependent on adult provisioning for 6–8 weeks. We found no parasitism by cuckoos. Of 429 nests found, 74% fledged at least one young, and overall nesting success calculated by the Mayfield method was 63%. The median time between initiation of two successive clutches was 54 days, and 52% of females renested after fledging one brood; at least two broods per year were fledged by 44% of females. Groups produced a mean of 2.8 fledglings, 1.3 independent young and 0.7 yearlings per year. The most productive groups were those with two or more helpers on high-quality territories, but we could not separate the effects of helpers and territory quality. E. georgiana has the 'slow' life history typical of many Australian passerines – cooperative breeding, sedentary, resident all year round in an equable habitat that promotes high survival of breeding adults. Their low reproductive rate produces a small crop of yearlings, some of which may stay in the parental home range.


1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Jensen

An equation is derived that relates net reproductive rate to six life history parameters; the equation is applied to determine changes in the net reproductive rate of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) that result from variation in these life history parameters. Changes in age at maturity and survival of immature fish are the only parameters that have a large effect on the net reproductive rate. Age at maturity occurs near the inflection of the growth curve, and this implies a relationship between age at maturity, length at maturity, the growth coefficient, and asymptotic length.


2013 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 406-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Yu Chen ◽  
Ming-Chih Chiu ◽  
Mei-Hwa Kuo

AbstractTo estimate the net effect of climate change on natural populations, we must take into account the positive and negative effects of temperature oscillations and climate variability. Warming because of climate change will likely exceed the physiological optima of tropical insects, which currently live very close to their thermal optima. Tropical insects will be negatively affected if their optima are exceeded otherwise warming may affect them positively. We evaluate the demographic responses of the cowpea aphid,Aphis craccivora, to summer warming in subtropical and tropical Taiwan, and examine the effects of diel temperature oscillation on these responses. Aphids were reared at four temperatures (current summer mean, +1.4, +3.9 and +6.4 °C), the latter three simulating different levels of warming. At each average temperature, aphids experienced constant or oscillating (from −2.9 to +3.6 °C of each mean temperature) regimes. As the simulated summer temperatures increased, so did the negative effects on life-history traits and demographic parameters. Compared with aphids reared in constant temperatures, aphids reared in oscillating temperatures developed more slowly and had a longer mean generation time, but their net reproductive rate was higher. These findings demonstrate that climate warming will affect demographic parameters and life-history traits differentially. Studies that use constant temperatures are unlikely to accurately predict biotic responses to climate change.


Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 292
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Ganjisaffar ◽  
Thomas M. Perring

Ooencyrtus lucidus Triapitsyn & Ganjisaffar (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) was recently recovered from fresh sentinel eggs of Bagrada hilaris (Burmeister) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in California. In the present study, life history traits of O. lucidus were studied at 26 ± 0 . 5 ∘ C, 40 ± 10 % RH, and a photoperiod of 14 L: 10 D hours. Results showed that 95.2% of the parasitized eggs yielded successful emergence of adults. The total immature developmental time was 14.27 and 13.95 days for females and males, respectively. The sex ratio of O. lucidus was 0.5 (females/offspring). Mated females laid on average 6.0 eggs per day and 222.7 eggs during their mean ovipositional period of 37.3 days. There was no significant difference in reproduction parameters between mated and non-mated females. The net reproductive rate ( R 0 ) was 103.8 females/female/generation, the intrinsic rate of increase ( r m ) was 0.171 females/female/day, the finite rate of increase ( λ ) was 1.187 population multiplication/day, the mean generation time (T) was 27.1 days, and the doubling time (DT) was 4.0 days. The highest longevity was observed in mated and non-mated females fed with honey, and they lived for 70.8 and 70.1 days, respectively. Providing females with host eggs in addition to honey, reduced their longevity by 24% in mated and 28% in non-mated individuals. Non-mated females and males deprived of honey only lived for 3.5 and 2.5 days after emergence, respectively. Our results indicate that O. lucidus has sufficient life history traits to make it a promising egg parasitoid for the biological control of B. hilaris.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Falk Eckhardt ◽  
Cornelia Kraus ◽  
Peter M. Kappeler

Abstract The life histories and population dynamics of chameleons remain poorly known, most likely due to practical challenges related to their cryptic nature. However, several studies have indicated that some of these reptiles have unusually brief life histories. Specifically, one Madagascan chameleon (Furcifer labordi) was found to have an annual life cycle characterized by population-wide survival of the austral winter in the egg stage; a unique life history among tetrapods. In this study, we compare the life history of F. labordi with two locally sympatric congeners (F. cf. nicosiai and F. oustaleti) in Kirindy forest, western Madagascar, to determine how these species adjust their life histories to a highly seasonal and unpredictable climate. We found differences in lifespan, timing of hatching, growth rates, survival, reproductive rates, adult body size, and roosting heights among all three species. Moreover, two species exhibited relatively short lifespans: 6-9 months in F. labordi and 16-18 months in F. cf. nicosiai. In contrast, F. oustaleti is perennial and large-sized juveniles and adults aestivate during the dry season, but survival rates of adults seemed relatively low. Strikingly, the annual cohort of F. labordi was already adult when hatchlings of F. oustaleti and subsequently F. cf. nicosiai emerged. Our study suggests the co-existence of three different life histories with seasonal adjustment that might be related to the partitioning of overall food availability and contributes valuable life history data on enigmatic chameleon species.


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