Resource Variance and Composition of Daphniid Assemblages

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9421539 Tessier It is proposed that a mechanism by which functional biodiversity of filter-feeding zooplankton is maintained is by spatial-temporal environmental variation in phytoplankton-resource abundance. Species can be viewed as differing in their ability to exploit rich versus poor resource conditions, and such differences create unique interactions between each species and a heterogeneous environment. The proposed research would examine the breadth of species diversity within the Daphnia inhabiting the lakes of midwest U.S., and use a broad range of natural resource assemblages to test the generality of this exploitation tradeoff. Using a novel approach to quantify resource richness from the organisms's perspective, this research would also examine for an association between assemblage composition, and environmental resource conditions among lakes and vertical habitats within lakes. Two experimental studies will explore the consequences of this tradeoff to competitive and food web interactions. This research will identify key factors regulating the diversity of Daphnia, which play a pivotal role in the ecology of freshwater lakes. The research provides an explicit test of a general concept linking consumer traits and diversity of ecological communities. It also lays the groundwork to explore how biodiversity within an important group of organisms translates into consequences at the ecosystem level.