Collaborative Proposal: The Relation of Behavior of Copepod Juveniles to Potential Predation by Omnivorous Copepods

在浮游桡足类动物的生命周期中，捕食的影响在无节幼体的早期阶段尤其明显。在主要的捕食者中，有杂食性的桡足类。导致这种捕食的过程已经被评估，但很少被证明。这些过程包括猎物和捕食者附近的流体动力学，两者对水动力信号的识别，以及对攻击和/或逃逸的各自反应，以及最终的结果。本研究的目的是确定杂食性桡足类对不同种类的浮游桡足类无节幼体的捕食以及其中一个物种的早期桡足类阶段的各种机制。我们的假设是捕食率是幼虫运动和感知行为的函数，以及捕食者的感知和捕获能力的函数。我们将通过模型研究和经验观察相结合的方法来确定这些机制。已发表的、未发表的和新获得的关于桡足类动物运动的经验结果将被用来开发自由游泳的猎物和捕食者接近和相遇时的流体动力学模型。同样的经验数据将被用来验证建模结果。建模结果将建议新的、额外的经验性工作。我们认为，将建模与经验研究相结合，为揭示与猎物和捕食者行为有关的捕食机制提供了一个很有希望的机会。这项研究的生态学意义与桡足类幼虫的原位死亡有关。由于死亡率这一变量通常不可能在现场量化，我们提出的研究可以被视为试图使用小范围的结果来理解更大的图景，即海洋中行为与死亡率的关系。将这种类型的行为观测与所提出的流体动力学模型相结合的想法是独创的。与之前研究中使用的非游泳粒子相比，该建模侧重于自我推进的身体。经验工作为建模提供了初始信息，如不同猎物和捕食者的各种行为；并在稍后用于验证。预期的结果将为不同桡足类物种的早期幼虫减少共生杂食性物种(包括它们自己的物种)捕食的比较能力提供洞察。我们将向佐治亚大学生态研究所和海洋科学学院的本科生和研究生提供我们的经验模型研究的详细信息，强调跨学科研究在生态研究中的重要性。我们将每年招收至少2名本科生，与我们密切合作。这些本科生每年将接受至少3个月的桡足类过程研究和高级流体动力学小尺度模型的培训。拟议研究的意义是对成年杂食性桡足类对早期桡足类幼体的捕食概率有一个大致的了解。

During a planktonic copepod's life cycle the effects of predation can be particularly pronounced during the early naupliar stages. Among the major predators are omnivorous copepods. The processes leading to such predation have been evaluated but rarely demonstrated. These processes include fluid dynamics near both prey and predator, recognition of hydrodynamic signals by both, and the respective responses with either attack and/or escape, and the eventual outcome.The objective of this research project is to determine the various mechanisms that can lead to predation by omnivorous copepods on nauplii of different abundant species of planktonic copepods, and on an early copepod stage of one of those species. Our hypothesis is that predation rates are a function of a juvenile's motion and perception behavior, and the predator's perceptive and capture capabilities. We will determine these mechanisms by combining modeling studies with empirical observations. Published, unpublished, and newly obtained empirical results on copepod motion will be used to develop fluid dynamics models of free?swimming prey and predators as they approach and encounter each other. The same empirical data will be used to verify the modeling results. The modeling results will suggest new, additional empirical work. We feel that coupling modeling with empirical studies presents a promising opportunity to unravel the mechanisms leading to predation, in relation to the behavior of prey and predator. The ecological significance of the proposed studies is related to in situ mortality of copepod juveniles. Since this variable, mortality, is usually impossible to quantify in situ, our proposed research can be seen as an attempt to use results at small scales towards an understanding of a bigger picture i.e. the relation of behavior to mortality in the ocean.Intellectual Merit. The idea of combining this type of behavioral observations with the proposed hydrodynamic modeling is original. The modeling focuses on a self?propelled body, as compared to nonswimming particles used in previous studies. The empirical effort provides initial information for modeling, such as the various behaviors of the different prey and of the predator; and is later used to verify it. The expected results will provide insights on the comparative ability of early juveniles of different copepod species to minimize predation by co?occurring omnivorous species, including their own species.Broader Impact. We will provide with our empirical?modeling studies detailed information to undergraduate and graduate students at the Institute of Ecology and the School of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, emphasizing the significance of interdisciplinary research in ecological studies. We will recruit at least 2 undergraduate students each year to cooperate closely with us. These undergraduate students will be trained for at least 3 months per year in copepod process studies, and advanced small?scale modeling of fluid dynamics.The significance of the proposed research is to develop a general understanding of the probability of predation on early copepod juveniles by adult omnivorous copepods.