Behavioral Response of Lake Michigan Daphnia Mendotae to Mysis Relicta

J. Great Lakes Res. 31:144–154 Internat. Assoc. Great Lakes Res., 2005 Behavioral response of Lake Michigan Daphnia mendotae to Mysis relicta Scott D. Peacor1,2,*, Kevin L. Pangle1,2, and Henry A. Vanderploeg2 1Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife 13 Natural Resources Building East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1222 2Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (NOAA) 2205 Commonwealth Boulevard Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105-2945 ABSTRACT. We performed laboratory experiments to determine if Mysis relicta induce changes in the behavior of Daphnia mendotae collected from Lake Michigan. Laboratory results indicate that Daphnia perceived Mysis kairomones and responded by changing their vertical position in cylinders. Experiments using different resource levels, and two procedures to examine the potential effects of the chemical cues from Mysis or from particulate matter or bacteria associated with capture and defecation of prey, suggest that Daphnia detect Mysis via a chemical cue. This is the first laboratory study that we are aware of that indicates that a zooplankton species from the Great Lakes responds behaviorally to an invertebrate predator. Our findings support the hypothesis that changes in vertical distribution of zooplankton associated with changes in invertebrate predator density, observed in previous Great Lakes studies, is due to behavioral responses to reduce predation risk. It is important to understand and quantify such responses, because predator-induced changes in prey behavior represent trait-mediated interactions that can potentially strongly affect prey growth rates, and indirectly affect resources, competitors, and predators of the prey. INDEX WORDS: Daphnia mendotae, Mysis relicta, Lake Michigan, vertical migration, phenotypic plasticity, kairomone. INTRODUCTION Ramcharan and Sprules 1991, Loose and Dawidow- In aquatic systems, predation risk is believed to icz 1994,Van Gool and Ringelberg 1998, reviewed be an important factor in determining the vertical in Tollrian and Harvell 1999). Thus, not only has position of many species in the water column (Zaret behavior (and other traits) been selected to reduce and Suffern 1976, Bowers and Vanderploeg 1982, predation risk, but behavior can be modified de- Ohman et al. 1983, Hayes 2003). Predation pro- pending on short-term changes in predation risk. vides a strong selective force on behavior, and Invertebrate predators are recognized as playing many species respond to environmental cues, mi- a critical role in the structure of aquatic food webs, grate according to diel cycles, or respond to including those of the Great Lakes food webs changes in light level, in a manner that reduces spa- (Bowers and Vanderploeg 1982, Branstrator and tial overlap with visual predators. More recently, re- Lehman 1991, Johannsson et al. 1994, Schulz and searchers have found that species can perceive the Yurista 1998). To fully understand the effects of in- presence of predators, often via chemical cues, and vertebrate predators it may be important to deter- change the degree to which they migrate in an mine if they affect zooplankton prey phenotype adaptive manner to increase fitness (Dodson 1988, such as vertical position. If zooplankton prey respond to invertebrate predators by modifying their behavior and other phenotypic traits to reduce pre- *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] dation risk, this could affect prey consumption rates 144 Behavioral response of Daphnia to Mysis 145 of resources and vulnerability to predators (i.e., to Arbor, Michigan, and cultured separately in 4-L the predator inducing the change and to other vessels in aged Lake Michigan water under experi- predators). By inducing change in zooplankton prey mental temperatures (20°C). Food conditions con- phenotype, a predator can therefore affect the fit- sisted of 6 mg/L of Nanochloropsis limnetica (SAG ness of both the responding prey, and species with 18.99, University of Gottingen, Sag, Germany), and which the prey interacts. Such interactions are lighting was maintained at a 14 h light:10 h dark termed trait-mediated interactions (Abrams et al. regime. Mysis were also collected in Lake Michigan 1996) in order to differentiate them from density- near Muskegon, at sites approximately 75–100-m mediated interactions that occur through density ef- total depth, using a 1-m diameter net with 1,000-µm fects (i.e., predation). Trait-mediated interactions mesh made after sunset. Mysis were maintained in can contribute strongly to the net effect of a preda- the laboratory in a 30-L aquarium at 4°C. tor (Turner and Mittlebach 1990, Huang and Sih In general, the experiments were designed to 1991, Peacor and Werner 2001, Peacor and Werner evaluate the vertical movement (i.e., upward or 2004, Romare and Hansson 2003, reviewed in Dill downward) of D. mendotae in response to Mysis et al. 2003, and Werner and Peacor 2003). Further, kairomones in clear acrylic cylinders (e.g., Loose theory predicts that trait-mediated effects will affect and Dawidowicz 1994, Pijanowska 1997, and Van population dynamics and the stability of communi- Gool and Ringelberg 1998). D. mendotae (standard ties (reviewed in Bolker et al. 2003). body length range, 1.5–2.2 mm) were transferred In Lake Michigan, the invertebrate predator with a wide bore pipette into 60-cm tall, 26-mm di- Mysis relicta is a voracious predator of cladocerans, ameter, clear acrylic cylinders that were filled with including Daphnia spp. (Bowers and Vanderploeg experimental water (e.g., water with Mysis 1982). It has been hypothesized that this vulnerabil- kairomone and control water, see below) and sub- ity to Mysis contributes to a vertical diel migration merged vertically in a transparent, 40-L aquarium. by Daphnia spp. that minimizes spatial overlap, and The aquarium acted as a water bath, and uniform therefore vulnerability (Bowers and Vanderploeg water temperature was regulated at 20°C using an 1982, Spencer et al. 1999, Clarke and Bennet external chiller unit. The cylinders were illuminated 2003). Based on these patterns, we hypothesized by diffused light from directly above using three, that Mysis induce a change in Daphnia mendotae 50W halogen bulbs. Light intensity was kept con- behavior, in particular vertical migration patterns, stant over the duration of the experiment, with a and we tested this hypothesis with laboratory exper- photon flux density of 16.0 µEinst ˙ m–2 at the top iments. Our results indicate that D. mendotae of the cylinder, and 4.0 µEinst ˙ m–2 at the bottom. changed vertical position in experimental columns No resources were added to the cylinders, except in in response to Mysis kairomones (i.e., chemical Exp. 2 in which the effect of resource level was ex- cues produced by Mysis). Our results suggest that amined. D. mendotae potentially modify their vertical mi- To quantify the vertical position of D. mendotae, gration patterns in the field in response to Mysis the cylinders were demarcated in 10-cm intervals, presence and absence. Such induced changes in be- creating six vertical sections that were assigned the havior could contribute to the net effect of Mysis on values 1 to 6, with the lowest being closest to the D. mendotae density and also indirectly affect other bottom. D. mendotae were allowed to acclimate to species in Lake Michigan food web through trait- experimental conditions for 1 h before observations mediated interactions. were initiated. In Experiment 1, the vertical position of all D. mendotae in each cylinder was METHODS recorded every 20 min over a 4-h period (12 obser- General Experimental Approach vations total). Experiments 1–3 were similarly conducted, however over a 4.5-h period, with We conducted four laboratory experiments to in- observations recorded every 30 minutes (10 obser- vestigate the behavioral response of D. mendotae to vations total). Mysis using two isofemale lines of D. mendotae, la- beled clone-A and clone-B, originating from two females collected in Lake Michigan approximately Speciﬁc Experimental Treatments 8 km offshore of Muskegon, Michigan. D. mendo- Experiment 1 was conducted on 23 Jul 03 to tae clones were transported to the Great Lakes En- evaluate the behavioral response of clone-A and vironmental Research Laboratory (NOAA) in Ann clone-B D. mendotae to Mysis kairomones. The ex- 146 Peacor et al. periment was carried out as a 2 × 2 factorial design Three additional experiments were conducted on with two clones and treatments with and without 5 Aug 03, 29 Aug 03, and 7 Nov 03, to examine if Mysis cue, thus four treatments total. In the treat- the presence of bacteria or debris associated with ment with Mysis cue, which we denote the “Mysis Mysis consumption of D. mendotae served as a re- water” treatment, Mysis were transferred into resource that could contribute to the behavioral re- frigerated well water in 1-L containers (density, 10 sponses of D. mendotae to Mysis. Resource Mysis ˙ L–1) 5 days prior to the experiment, and fed on conditions can affect the magnitude of predator-in- the ﬁrst and last day of this period with both clone-A duced changes in prey behavior (Werner and Anholt and clone-B D. mendotae (approximately three D. 1993, Grand and Dill 1999, Weber 2001, Weetman mendotae ˙ Mysis–1). In the treatment without Mysis and Atkinson 2002). These experiments also served cue, the control treatment was well water main- to test the robustness of the results of Experiment 1 tained under similar condition with no Mysis or D. and to shed insight into the origin of the kairomone mendotae added. Mysis were held at a lower tem- to which D. mendotae respond. The general meth- perature (4°C) than used in the experiment (20°C) ods were similar to that of Experiment 1, and some and would die if quickly transferred to this warm minor deviations are listed in Table 1. temperature. In order to allow the temperature of Experiment 2 consisted of a 2 × 2 × 3 factorial the experimental water to warm to experimental design with two clones (A and B), two predator cue conditions, we therefore removed Mysis from the levels (control water and Mysis water), and three re- water, and transferred the remaining water, denoted source levels.

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