Abstract
Ecological research is moving from a species-based to a functional-based approach to better understand the underlying principles that govern community dynamics. Studies of functional-based ecology, however, have been limited for zooplankton and particularly for rotifers. While rotifers show a variety of trophi types and coronal shapes, suggesting the importance of niche differentiation in their feeding strategy, relatively little is known of how this relates to rotifer dynamics. We used the guild ratio (GR′, a ratio of raptorial to microphagous species), an index based on a functional trait (i.e. feeding strategy), as a novel approach to rotifer dynamics. We extracted the seasonal GR′ by using seasonal trend decomposition and investigated similarities between study sites (Lake Washington, USA and Lake Caldonazzo, Italy) and its relation to cladocerans by cross-correlation analysis. Our study indicated that (i) raptorial and microphagous rotifers showed alternating dominance, and that raptorial rotifers and cladocerans had a synchronous pattern, (ii) the seasonal pattern of the GR′ was consistent across different sampling frequencies, and (iii) the GR′ was similar in both lakes. We interpreted these patterns as the general strength of the GR′: discernment of species–environment relationships and robustness across sampling regimes. The limitations of the GR′ (i.e. species identity is neglected, simplification of food preferences) can also be seen as its strong point: synthesis of multi-species patterns. In addition, the independence of GR′ from species-level identification and its potential to make use of datasets with infrequent sampling intervals and low taxon resolution could further support its innovative aspect.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the late W.T. Edmondson and his staff (S. Abella, K. Frevert, A. Litt, J. Shepherd, the late M. Varela, and the late D. Allison) for data on Lake Washington and The National Science Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon foundation for financial support for data collection and storage. We thank H. Segers and T. Schröder who provided their assessment of the guild status of rotifers, and T. Hess and C. Soto for statistical advice. We also thank J.J. Gilbert and an anonymous reviewer for making critical comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. UO was funded by CERCA Research Grant (Province of Trento, Italy). This work was partly carried out within the research activity funded by IASMA. We also thank G. Leonardi and V. Pinamonti for sampling and the latter for zooplankton counts.
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Guest editors: N. Walz, R. Adrian, J.J. Gilbert, M.T. Monaghan, G. Weithoff & H. Zimmermann-Timm / Rotifera XII: New aspects in rotifer evolution, genetics, reproduction, ecology and biogeography
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Obertegger, U., Smith, H.A., Flaim, G. et al. Using the guild ratio to characterize pelagic rotifer communities. Hydrobiologia 662, 157–162 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0491-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0491-5