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THE SEASONAL AND DIEL CHANGES IN DISTRIBUTION OF DIAPTOMUS LEPTOPUS IN A SMALL EUTROPHIC LAKE
Author(s) -
Healey M. C.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1967.12.1.0034
Subject(s) - diel vertical migration , ecology , population , biology , plankton , geology , demography , sociology
Little is known of the role in vertical migration of different age classes of migratory plankton populations. Differences in migratory behavior between age classes were examined in the Diaptomus leptopus population of Corbett Lake, British Columbia, during summer of 1963. Only the males of stages V and VI showed a significant vertical migration. Females of stages V and VI and copepodid stages I–IV showed diel changes in vertical distribution, but these were not consistent between samples. All three groups showed significant clumping in the vertical plane. The data suggest that the degree of aggregation in the vertical plane is related to population size. Some evidence for horizontal patchiness is also considered. The possibility that ontogenetic changes in migratory behavior provide new clues to the biological significance of vertical migration is emphasized.