Thomas C. Jensen

Age-dependent shift in response to food element composition in Collembola: contrasting effects of dietary nitrogen

We examined the effect of different food qualities, in terms of the C:N:P content, on the collembolan Hypogastrura viatica. We hypothesised that (faster growing) juveniles would have higher demands for P and N than adults; this, however, was rejected by our experiments. There was no difference between the elemental compositions of juveniles and adults. In food preference experiments, juveniles and adults were offered green algae Raphidocelis subcapitata with three different C:N:P ratios. There was a strong shift in dietary response with age; juveniles preferred algae with low or medium N contents over the most N-rich algae, whereas adults showed the opposite. No response was seen when the specific P content in the food was varied. Juveniles fed on algae with high N content showed lower growth rates and survival than those fed on algae with other food qualities. In contrast, adults had lowest growth rates when fed on algae with a low N content. The negative effect on juveniles of the most N-rich diet appeared to be a toxic response that was directly or indirectly related to the algal N content. Adults had higher tolerance for N-rich diets, but were also more likely to face dietary N-limitation. These animals face a stoichiometric trade-off scenario in the sense that adaptation to maximise retention of a limiting element may result in reduced physiological ability to cope with excessive elements when feeding on “richer” diets, and vice versa. This problem is partly solved in H. viatica by contrasting selective feeding and ontogenetic dietary shifts between juveniles and adults.

Biotic and abiotic preferences of the cladoceran invader Limnosida frontosa

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the cladoceran Limnosida frontosa invaded several lakes within its natural range in southeastern Norway. In this project, we wanted to study the types of lakes preferred by Limnosida. We also wanted to evaluate the potential competitive effects on other zooplankton species. In a survey of 65 Norwegian lakes, Limnosida showed preference for lakes of low Ca concentrations and low productivity. This is probably due to decreased competition from species with higher Ca requirements and a lower fish predation on zooplankton in these lakes compared to more productive lakes. Particle size preferences of Limnosida were studied and compared with those of the microfiltrator Daphnia magna, as there was no published information on the food preference of Limnosida.When fed monodisperse fluorescent latex beads (0.5, 1.0, 6.0 μm), Limnosida strongly selected the largest beads, while D. magna had a more nonselective feeding behaviour. Mesh sizes of Limnosidas filtering appendages were 0.4–1.2 μm depending on the animal size, and the particle selection was correlated with the filter mesh sizes. Limnosida should thus be considered a low efficiency grazer on bacteria and μ-algae. Hence, this species probably does not interfere significantly with microfiltrators like Diaphanosoma brachyurumand most daphnids. This was supported by community analysis of lakes with and without Limnosida. In general, Limnosida commonly co-occurred with a number of filter-feeding cladocerans, and we found no sign of competitive exclusion in lakes where the species has become established.

Cladocerans respond to differences in trophic state in deeper nutrient poor lakes from Southern Norway

We investigated the role of trophic state in structuring the cladoceran assemblages in 35 relatively deep lakes of low nutrient levels in Southern Norway. The lakes cover gradients of altitude, latitude, longitude, area and total phosphorus concentration. The environmental control of the cladoceran assemblages was analyzed using canonical correspondence analysis. Total phosphorus was the most important variable in the minimal adequate model. Hence, the cladoceran assemblage changed with trophic state. Typical clear water species were displaced by indicators of eutrofication with increasing trophic levels. Littoral species constituted the majority of the species recorded. Littoral and pelagic species richness showed a unimodal relationship with trophic state. Along with the change in trophic state and shift in cladoceran assemblage, we observed an increase in the ratio of pelagic to littoral species as well as in the ratio of pelagic efficient bacterial feeders to total pelagic filter feeders. The study indicates that zooplankton could provide a valuable indicator of ecosystem’s structure and function in deeper nutrient poor lakes if included in water quality assessments according to the EU Water Framework Directive. Including sampling of the littoral zooplankton would improve diversity estimates and incorporate the response of the littoral zone to eutrophication.

Does flooding mitigation measures affect cladoceran and copepod communities in floodplain water bodies

We investigated the relative importance of flood defenses and other environmental variables for the cladoceran and copepod communities in floodplain water bodies in Southeastern Norway. The water bodies covered gradients of size, distance to the river and water chemistry, and half of them were located behind flood defenses. The effects of environmental variables on the communities were analyzed using redundancy analysis. The set of environmental variables accounted for more of the explained variation in the cladoceran community than in the copepod community. Water quality was much more important than flooding-related variables for both communities. Although cladoceran species richness was slightly higher in water bodies outside flood defenses, total nitrogen, total organic carbon (TOC), and water body area were the most important factors for the cladocerans. Macrophyte coverage was the most important variable for both species richness and community structure of copepods. Although our results show that water quality and spatial/structural variables are more important than flood defenses in structuring the communities, the effect of TOC on the cladoceran community could likely be mediated through effects of flood defense on TOC. Prospects for a continued anthropogenic pressure on river floodplains raise concern for the future of these unique ecosystems.

Freshwater diversity in Svalbard: providing baseline data for ecosystems in change

The high Arctic is in a rapid transition due to climate change, and both direct effects due to warming and an extended growing season, as well as an indirect effect caused by increased bird activity and density (notably geese), strongly affect ponds and lakes. Our study presents the hitherto most comprehensive data on invertebrate freshwater diversity at Svalbard and had three main purposes: to provide a current “baseline” of community composition, to compare current species distribution and occurrence with older data to identify changes that have already occurred, and finally to identify how diversity and community composition are related to the age of localities. To address these aims, we conducted a survey of freshwater invertebrates in 75 ponds and lakes at Svalbard in August 2014 and 2015. We provide a full report of the species’ inventory data for zooplankton, benthos, and meiofauna. We also provide data for species that have likely colonized the sites over the previous decades. Finally, our study also clearly demonstrates a diversity gradient related to ecosystem age and/or parameters confounded with age (e.g., productivity), which may hint at the rate of colonization over the time span from the oldest to the youngest localities.