Zooplankton-phytoplankton biomass and diversity relationships in the Great Lakes.
Quantifying the relationship between phytoplankton and zooplankton may offer insight into zooplankton sensitivity to shifting phytoplankton assemblages and the potential impacts of producer-consumer decoupling on the rest of the food web. We analyzed 18 years (2001-2018) of paired phytoplankton and...
| Κύριοι συγγραφείς: | , , , , , , |
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| Μορφή: | Άρθρο |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Έκδοση: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
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| Σειρά: | PLoS ONE |
| Διαθέσιμο Online: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292988 |
| _version_ | 1827773864329871360 |
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| author | Katya E Kovalenko Euan D Reavie Stephanie Figary Lars G Rudstam James M Watkins Anne Scofield Christopher T Filstrup |
| author_facet | Katya E Kovalenko Euan D Reavie Stephanie Figary Lars G Rudstam James M Watkins Anne Scofield Christopher T Filstrup |
| author_sort | Katya E Kovalenko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Quantifying the relationship between phytoplankton and zooplankton may offer insight into zooplankton sensitivity to shifting phytoplankton assemblages and the potential impacts of producer-consumer decoupling on the rest of the food web. We analyzed 18 years (2001-2018) of paired phytoplankton and zooplankton samples collected as part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Great Lakes Biology Monitoring Program to examine both the long-term and seasonal relationships between zooplankton and phytoplankton across all five Laurentian Great Lakes. We also analyzed effects of phytoplankton diversity on zooplankton biomass, diversity, and predator-prey (zooplanktivore/grazer) ratios. Across the Great Lakes, there was a weak positive correlation between total algal biovolume and zooplankton biomass in both spring and summer. The relationship was weaker and not consistently positive within individual lakes. These trends were consistent over time, providing no evidence of increasing decoupling over the study period. Zooplankton biomass was weakly negatively correlated with algal diversity across lakes, whereas zooplankton diversity was unaffected. These relationships did not change when we considered only the edible phytoplankton fraction, possibly due to the high correlation between total and edible phytoplankton biovolume in most of these lakes. Lack of strong coupling between these producer and consumer assemblages may be related to lagging responses by the consumers, top-down effects from higher-level consumers, or other confounding factors. These results underscore the difficulty in predicting higher trophic level responses, including zooplankton, from changes in phytoplankton assemblages. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T13:28:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ce3de4055cfd4d90a53e8d9a02919aa2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T13:28:54Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-ce3de4055cfd4d90a53e8d9a02919aa22023-11-03T05:32:44ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-011810e029298810.1371/journal.pone.0292988Zooplankton-phytoplankton biomass and diversity relationships in the Great Lakes.Katya E KovalenkoEuan D ReavieStephanie FigaryLars G RudstamJames M WatkinsAnne ScofieldChristopher T FilstrupQuantifying the relationship between phytoplankton and zooplankton may offer insight into zooplankton sensitivity to shifting phytoplankton assemblages and the potential impacts of producer-consumer decoupling on the rest of the food web. We analyzed 18 years (2001-2018) of paired phytoplankton and zooplankton samples collected as part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Great Lakes Biology Monitoring Program to examine both the long-term and seasonal relationships between zooplankton and phytoplankton across all five Laurentian Great Lakes. We also analyzed effects of phytoplankton diversity on zooplankton biomass, diversity, and predator-prey (zooplanktivore/grazer) ratios. Across the Great Lakes, there was a weak positive correlation between total algal biovolume and zooplankton biomass in both spring and summer. The relationship was weaker and not consistently positive within individual lakes. These trends were consistent over time, providing no evidence of increasing decoupling over the study period. Zooplankton biomass was weakly negatively correlated with algal diversity across lakes, whereas zooplankton diversity was unaffected. These relationships did not change when we considered only the edible phytoplankton fraction, possibly due to the high correlation between total and edible phytoplankton biovolume in most of these lakes. Lack of strong coupling between these producer and consumer assemblages may be related to lagging responses by the consumers, top-down effects from higher-level consumers, or other confounding factors. These results underscore the difficulty in predicting higher trophic level responses, including zooplankton, from changes in phytoplankton assemblages.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292988 |
| spellingShingle | Katya E Kovalenko Euan D Reavie Stephanie Figary Lars G Rudstam James M Watkins Anne Scofield Christopher T Filstrup Zooplankton-phytoplankton biomass and diversity relationships in the Great Lakes. PLoS ONE |
| title | Zooplankton-phytoplankton biomass and diversity relationships in the Great Lakes. |
| title_full | Zooplankton-phytoplankton biomass and diversity relationships in the Great Lakes. |
| title_fullStr | Zooplankton-phytoplankton biomass and diversity relationships in the Great Lakes. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Zooplankton-phytoplankton biomass and diversity relationships in the Great Lakes. |
| title_short | Zooplankton-phytoplankton biomass and diversity relationships in the Great Lakes. |
| title_sort | zooplankton phytoplankton biomass and diversity relationships in the great lakes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292988 |
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