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Fact and artifact in copepod feeding experiments 1
Author(s) -
Harbison G. R.,
McAlister V. L.
Publication year - 1980
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.1980.25.6.0971
Subject(s) - sieve (category theory) , artifact (error) , copepod , particle (ecology) , phytoplankton , basis (linear algebra) , natural (archaeology) , environmental science , biological system , ecology , biology , mathematics , paleontology , crustacean , nutrient , geometry , combinatorics , neuroscience
In several recent papers dealing with the feeding of copepods on natural particle assemblages investigators have claimed to show types of behavior more complex than simple sieving by the animals. We question these interpretations because first, the sensing‐zone counters used in these experiments size particles on the basis of their volumes, so that the equivalent spherical diameters thus obtained bear little relationship to the linear dimensions of many algal cells; and second, sieves remove particles from water on the basis of their linear dimensions, not necessarily on the basis of their volumes. If mixtures of phytoplankton of diverse shapes are passed through a sieve and sized with a sensing‐zone counter, the sieve will appear to have “behavior.” Two other sources of artifact—the breakage of phytoplankton cells by experimental agitation and by the feeding of the copepods—add to the difficulties of interpreting natural particle experiments. Proper control experiments to evaluate the contribution of these sources of artifact to experimental results have not yet been done.