REU: Influence of Chemically-Mediated Food Selection on Zooplankton Diets and Grazer-Resource Interactions in Freshwater Lakes

淡水浮游动物的不同分类群可以利用化学线索区分不同食物价值的颗粒。因此，许多浮游食草动物的饮食可能比以前所怀疑的更加专业化。本研究将采用食物选择实验、肠道分析和田间圈养实验来研究化学反应的模式和策略。中介选择，并评估这种现象在自然群落中的重要性。觅食理论预测，基于决策的选择行为应该对营养质量、替代食物的丰富程度和饥饿敏感。这些预测将在自然栖息地的桡足类动物的摄食中得到验证。围护实验将用于测试味觉敏感（Diaptomus）和非辨别性（Daphnia）食草动物对天然浮游植物、细菌和碎屑的影响的差异。除了这些基本的研究目标之外，本科生通过克鲁克湖生物站的参与也是该项目的主要资产。

Diverse taxa of freshwater zooplankton can use chemical cues to discriminate between particles which differ in food value. Thus, many planktonic grazers may be more specialized in theirdiets than previously suspected. This research will use foodselection experiments, gut analysis, and field enclosureexperiments to investigate patterns and strategies of chemically.mediated selection, and to evaluate the importance of thisphenomenon in a natural community. Foraging theory predicts that decision-based selection behavior should be sensitive to nutritional quality, the abundance of alternative foods, and hunger. These predictions will be tested with copepods feeding in natural seston. Enclosure experiments will be used to test for differences between taste-sensitive (Diaptomus) and nondiscriminating (Daphnia) grazers in their impacts on natural phytoplankton, bacteria, and detritus. In addition to these basic research objectives, undergraduate involvement through the Crooked Lake Biological Station is a major asset of the project.