The effect of temperature and predation on performance in monoculture and in competition in three Daphniidae differing in body size

Abstract

Zooplankton body size shows a strong association with temperature, competition, and predation. Global warming affects all three drivers of body size and is thus expected to lead to substantial changes in zooplankton community composition and body size distributions. To disentangle the isolated and joint effect of temperature, competition, and fish predation on species biomass and community composition in zooplankton, we monitored population biomasses of three Daphniidae species that differ in body size (Daphnia magna, Daphnia pulex, and Ceriodaphnia reticulata) for 20 days, manipulating competition (monoculture, pairwise trials, and three-species communities), temperature (20°C, 24°C, and 28°C) and presence or absence of fish predation. In the absence of predation, D. magna dominated in all competition experiments, even at high temperatures. D. magna went extinct, however, in the predation treatments at 24°C and 28°C. D. pulex outcompeted C. reticulata and was negatively affected by predation and high temperature. C. reticulata did not reduce biomass at high temperatures and was negatively affected by all competition trials, but was positively affected by predation. Our results indicate that the two larger-bodied species are more negatively affected by the combination of temperature and predation than the smallest species. While higher temperatures reduced the biomass of the larger-bodied species, it did not fundamentally change their ability to dominate over the smallest species in competition. The combined effect of warming and predation changed community composition more fundamentally, resulting in the dominance of small-bodied species. This can have important ecosystem-wide impacts, such as the transition to turbid, algae-dominated systems.