Changes in the structure of a zooplankton community during a Ceratium (dinoflagellate) bloom in a eutrophic fishless pond

Abstract

The community structure of zooplankton was studied in a eutrophic, fishless Japanese pond. The ecosystem was dominated by a dinoflagellate, Ceratium hirundinella, two filter-feeding cladocerans, Daphnia rosea and Ceriodaphnia reticulata, and an invertebrate predator, the dipteran Chaoborus flavicans. The midsummer zooplankton community showed a large change in species composition (the Daphnia population crashed) when a heavy Ceratium bloom occurred. It is shown that (i) the rapid density decline of D. rosea in mid-May was mainly caused by a shortage of edible phytoplankton, which was facilitated by the rapid increase in C. hirundinella abundance; (ii) the low density of D. rosea in June-July was considered to be mainly caused by the blooming of Ceratium hirundinella (which may inhibit the feeding process of D. rosea), while predation by C. flavicans larvae, the changing temperature, the interspecific competition and the scarcity of edible algae were not judged to be important; (iii) the high summer biomass of the planktonic C. flavicans larvae was maintained by the bloom of Chirundinella, because >90% of the crop contents of C. flavicans larvae were C. hirundinella during this period. The present study indicates that the large-sized cells or colonies of phytoplankton are not only inedible by most cladocerans, but the selective effect of the blooming of these algae can also influence the composition and dominance of the zooplankton community, especially for the filter-feeding Cladocera, in a similar way as the selective predation by planktivorous fish. The large-sized phytoplankton can also be an important alternative food for ominivorous invertebrate predators such as Chaoborus larvae, and thus may affect the interactions between these predators and their zooplanktonic prey. In this way, such phytoplankton may play a very important role in regulating the dynamics of the aquatic food web, and become a driving force in shaping the community structure of zooplankton.