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Biological Interactions and the Realized Niche of Euplotes vannus from the Salt Marsh Aufwuchs
Author(s) -
AILLLER WILLIAM A.,
LEE JOHN J.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1977.tb01005.x
Subject(s) - microcosm , ciliate , algae , biology , salinity , algal bloom , salt marsh , herbivore , ecology , phytoplankton , nutrient
SYNOPSIS.Euplotes vannus , a hypotrich ciliate. grows well over broad ranges of temperature and salinity. It requires higher densities of food (> 1 × 10 4 cells/ml) for rapid reproduction than do the other herbivores, the foraminiferan Al‐logromia laticollaris (> 1 × 10 2 cells/ml), and the nematode Chromadorina germanica (∼ 1 × 10 3 cells/ml), to which it was compared. If food levels were initially very high (∼ 1 × 10 8 cells/ml) the ciliates reproduced rapidly and consumed the algae faster than it could reproduce. Some balance between the algae and the ciliates was achieved at initial algal concentrations of ∼ 1 × 10 5 cells/ml. In microcosm experiments at 25 C with equal numbers of C. germanica and A. laticollaris. E. vannus proved to be a very poor competitor; reaching only 20% of control levels when grow with C. germanica and only 13% when cultured with A. laticollaris . It was a better competitor in 2‐species microcosms, at lower temperatures, and when its ratio to the other species was initially higher. The experimental evidence suggests that E. vannus is best adapted to being a migrating initial colonizer of fresh algal blooms.