Low-latitude zooplankton pigmentation plasticity in response to multiple threatsShow others and affiliations
2019 (English)In: Royal Society Open Science, E-ISSN 2054-5703, Vol. 6, no 7, p. 1-10, article id 190321
Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Crustacean copepods in high-latitude lakes frequently alter their pigmentation facultatively to defend themselves against prevailing threats, such as solar ultraviolet radiation ( UVR) and visually oriented predators. Strong seasonality in those environments promotes phenotypic plasticity. To date, no one has investigated whether low-latitude copepods, experiencing continuous stress from UVR and predation threats, exhibit similar inducible defences. We here investigated the pigmentation levels of Bahamian 'blue hole' copepods, addressing this deficit. Examining several populations varying in predation risk, we found the lowest levels of pigmentation in the population experiencing the highest predation pressure. In a laboratory experiment, we found that, in contrast with our predictions, copepods from these relatively constant environments did show some changes in pigmentation subsequent to the removal of UVR; however, exposure to water from different predation regimes induced minor and idiosyncratic pigmentation change. Our findings suggest that low-latitude zooplankton in inland environments may exhibit reduced, but non-zero, levels of phenotypic plasticity compared with their high-latitude counterparts.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Royal Society Open Science , 2019. Vol. 6, no 7, p. 1-10, article id 190321
Keywords [en]
Calanoida, Cyclopoida, colorimetric method, predation, ultraviolet radiation, freshwater
National Category
Ecology
Research subject
Biology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-74572DOI: 10.1098/rsos.190321ISI: 000479146300052PubMedID: 31417735OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-74572DiVA, id: diva2:1346904
2019-08-292019-08-292020-01-16Bibliographically approved