Fitness differences and persistent founder effects determine the clonal composition during population build-up in Daphnia

During the initial stages of population build-up in new habitats, the time at which immigrants arrive may infl uence their contribution to the population and thus determine population genetic structure. While the numerical advantage associated with founder eff ects may promote dominance of the off spring of early colonizers, fi tness diff erences associated with ecological diff erences among genotypes may potentially overwhelm these founder eff ects. We conducted an outdoor mesocosm experiment to test whether the sequence of arrival determines the relative contribution of genetic lineages (clones) to populations of the water fl ea Daphnia . A set of D. galeata clones was inoculated pairwise…

Zooplankton biodiversity and community structure vary along spatiotemporal environmental gradients in restored peridunal ponds

<p>Zooplankton assemblages in neighboring ponds can show important spatial and temporal heterogeneity. Disentangling the influence of regional versus local factors, and of deterministic versus stochastic processes has been recently highlighted in the context of the metacommunity theory. In this study, we determined patterns of temporal and spatial variation in zooplankton diversity along one hydrological year in restored ponds of different hydroperiod and age. The following hypotheses regarding the assembling of species over time were tested: i) dispersal is not limited in our study system due to its small area and high exposure to dispersal vectors; ii) community dissimilarity among …

Coexistence of cryptic rotifer species: ecological and genetic characterisation of Brachionus plicatilis

SUMMARY 1. The coexistence of five cryptic species of the rotifer species complex Brachionus plicatilis was investigated in four coastal Mediterranean ponds. Monthly sampling was undertaken for 15 months and species were characterised using allozyme electrophoresis. 2. We describe species-diagnostic allozyme loci that can be used for rapid identification of these species. 3. The five species overlapped to some extent in their temporal use of the ponds, although some seasonal segregation was observed. 4. The match between temporal and spatial distribution and limnological conditions suggested ecological specialisation in some cases, although we found striking examples of extensive seasonal o…

Influence of restoration age on egg bank richness and composition: an ex situ experiment

AbstractZooplankton community assembly after flooding in temporary ponds depends mostly on abundance and diversity of the dormant propagule bank. However, our understanding of the hatching patterns of zooplankton is imperfect. We performed an ex situ experiment to study the species composition and temporal sequence of zooplankton emergence from sediments in three ponds that were restored at different times: 1998, 2003 and 2007. The patterns of species hatching observed in our microcosms were compared with the emergent zooplankton community of their equivalent, synchronically inundated ponds. An escalation in species richness and a delay in hatching time were detected with increasing restora…

Tracking environmental changes in restored Mediterranean dune slacks.

Restoration is an ecological tool that aims to recover the prior conditions and functioning of a degraded habitat. Three restoration projects targeted a dune slack system in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula and created a mosaic of ponds restored over three different periods: 1998, 2003 and 2007, the latter coinciding with the start of our study. Restoration works consisted of digging out the pond basin to its original morphometry. We monitored 12 restored ponds (six recent, three intermediate and three older ones) monthly, over four consecutive hydrological years (from 2007 until 2011) characterizing the most important limnological factors in order to disentangle the effects of man-made restor…

The environmental and zooplankton community changes in restored ponds over 4 years

Re-establishment of zooplankton communities in temporary ponds after autumn flooding: Does restoration age matter?

Abstract In temporary ponds, reestablishment of zooplankton communities depends on recruitment from the egg bank, the arrival of dispersers from within the region, and on successful establishment of newly arrived species following interaction with local abiotic and biotic factors. When the ponds dry up, zooplankton species may survive as dormant eggs, and since not all eggs hatch in the next season, eggs will accumulate in the sediment over time, representing an archive of the pond's historical biodiversity. To study the effect of “restoration age” (the time since a water body was restored), we studied groups of ponds that were restored in different years (1998, 2003 and 2007). The restorat…

Mostreig en ambients aquàtics(II)

tècniques bàsiques de recollida de dades i mostreig d'organismes planctònics i macroinvertebrats d'aigües lèntiques.

Mostreig en ambients aquàtics (I)

tècniques bàsiques de recollida de dades i mostreig d'organismes planctònics i macroinvertebrats d'aigües lòtiques.