Effect of predation by planktivorous fish and macroinvertebrates on zooplankton functional diversity in subtropical shallow lakes

• Grant number: 19/24576-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2020
• End date: December 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Stela Maioli Castilho Noll
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Ribeiro Morari
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Shallow lakes are aquatic ecosystems that span a wide variety of communities. Among these, the zooplankton community is one of the main ones that plays a fundamental role in the structuring of food webs. The regulation of the zooplankton community in the food webs is made of predation by fish and macroinvertebrates. Fish prey on active swimming, preying on all prey they can see. While shrimps are more opportunistic, they live in association with macrophytes and prey on smaller, slow-moving zooplankton species. Therefore, the predation phenomenon in the zooplankton community is not only associated with the way the predator captures the prey, but also with the self-characteristics of the prey, such as morphological, physiological and behavioral traits, which characterize its functional traits. Given this, the project aims to evaluate the effect of predation by fish and macroinvertebrates on the functional diversity of the zooplankton community in subtropical shallow lakes. To achieve this objective, samples obtained from experiments conducted by Dr. Carlos Iglesias, which were performed in lakes Blanca, Nutria and Diario, will be used and consisted of the assembly of mesocosms with four distinct treatments: Treatment only with plankton fish (P), macroinvertebrate only treatment (INV), treatment with both predators (P + INV), and treatment without any predators (CON). Two collections were performed, one at the beginning and one at the end of the experiment (49 days). In both collections will be compared the changes in the functional diversity of zooplankton. Species will be counted, identified to species level and classified according to their functional traits. For statistical analysis, differences in functional group abundances and functional diversity indices between treatments will be tested for data normality by the Shapiro-Wilk test, when necessary they will be subjected to data normalization by log (x + 1 ). Subsequently, analysis of variance (ANOVA) may be performed followed by post hoc test for parametric data. Nonparametric data will be evaluated by the Kruskal-Walis comparison test.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DOS SANTOS, NATAN GUILHERME; DOS SANTOS, EDUARDO FERNANDO; MORARI, PEDRO HENRIQUE RIBEIRO; CHIARELLI, LAURA JARDIM; CASTILHO-NOLL, MARIA STELA MAIOLI. Total nitrogen and pH are key variables for functional structure of zooplanktonic communities in an agropastoral landscape. Science of The Total Environment, v. 891, p. 8-pg., 2023-05-31. (04/04820-3, 19/24576-5, 20/06632-2, 22/05412-4)