Premium
Relative feeding rates on free and particle‐bound bacteria by freshwater macrozooplankton 1
Author(s) -
Schoenberg Steven A.,
Maccubbin Alexander E.
Publication year - 1985
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.1985.30.5.1084
Subject(s) - bacteria , clearance rate , biology , particle (ecology) , eutrophication , ecology , zoology , nutrient , genetics , endocrinology
Feeding suspensions of equivalent particle spectra were assembled with either free‐living (< 1.0 µ m) or attached bacteria specifically labeled with [ 3 H]thymidine. Clearance (ml ind −1 d −1 ) of attached bacteria was 3–29 × that of free bacteria for the cladocerans Acantholeberis, Chydorus, and Eubosmina. Pseudosida and Ceriodaphnia showed weaker discrimination or no selection, indicating a lower size threshold for filtration in these species. Feeding suspensions composed of isolated free bacteria yielded significantly higher or lower estimates of grazing than free bacteria with the full complement of particles, depending on species. Relative clearance (attached : free) tended to increase with body size within a species and varied for different particle environments. Bacteria associated with large particles may increase detrital energy flow to consumers in eutrophic environments.