Experimental Field Tests of the Effect of Biotic Neighborhoods on Zooplankton Dispersal

私家侦探建议通过实验研究 生物邻近区对浮游动物扩散的三个方面 率，密度，质量和类型的邻居所经历的 单个. 扩散可能会强烈影响 浮游动物斑块的信息和持久性。 分散 将用几种措施进行分析，包括网络 浮游动物个体水平位移 规定时间 实验将在大的场地进行 利用浮游生物的自然组合的围栏（10，000）。 最近的研究表明，物理因素本身不能 解释了所有观察到的小规模斑块。 然而，很少有人知道生物因素的影响， （即。与其他动物或食物的相互作用）。 的 三个特定因素（食物浓度，食物 质量和同类相食的密度）对浮游动物的影响 将在围栏内测试扩散。 这三个因素 已经被证明不会影响进食，生长，繁殖，行为， 和一些浮游动物的适应性，因此可能会影响 个体留在或离开小块区域的倾向。

The P.I. proposes to experimentally examine the influence of three apsects of the biotic neighborhood on zooplankton dispersal rates, the density, quality and type of neighbors experienced by an individual. Dispersal is likely to influence strongly the information and persistence of zooplankton patches. Dispersal will be analyzed with several measures including the net horizontal displacement of individual zooplankton over a specified time. Experiments will be conducted in large field enclosures (10,000) using the natural assemblage of plankton. Recent studies indicate that physical factors alone can not explain all of the of the observed small scale patchiness. However, very little is known of the influence of biotic factors (ie. interactions with other animals or food) on patchiness. The effect of three specific factors (food concentration, food quality and the density of cannibalistics) on zooplankton dispersal will be tested in the enclosures. All three factors have been shown t affect feeding, growth, reproduction, behavior, and fitness of some zooplankton, and thus are likely to influence the tendency if individuals to remain in or to leave a patch.