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Differential effects of nutrient-limited primary production on primary, secondary or tertiary consumers

  • Physiological Ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Nutritional imbalances between predator and prey are the rule rather than the exception at the lower end of food webs. We investigated the role of different grazers in the propagation of nutritionally imbalanced primary production by using the same primary producers in a three-trophic-level food chain and a four-trophic-level food chain experimental setup. The three-trophic-level food chain consisted of a classic single-cell primary producer (Rhodomonas salina), a metazoan grazer (the copepod Acartia tonsa) and a top predator (the jellyfish Gonionemus vertens), while we added a protozoan grazer (Oxyrrhis marina) as primary consumer to the food chain to establish the four-trophic-level food chain. This setup allowed us to investigate how nutrient-limitation effects change from one trophic level to another, and to investigate the performance of two components of our experimental food chains in different trophic positions. Stoichiometry and fatty acid profiles of the algae showed significant differences between the nutrient-depleted [no N and no P addition (−P), respectively] and the nutrient-replete (f/2) treatments. The differences in stoichiometry could be traced when O. marina was the first consumer. Copepods feeding on these flagellates were not affected by the nutritional imbalance of their prey in their stoichiometry, their respiration rates nor in their developmental rates. In contrast, when copepods were the primary consumer, those reared on the −P algae showed significantly higher respiration rates along with significantly lower developmental rates. In neither of our two experimental food chains did the signals from the base of the food chains travel up to jelly fish, our top predator.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank an anonymous reviewer and Sebastian Diehl for careful reading of the manuscript and their fruitful thoughts and comments, which improved the quality of the manuscript. K. L. S. is funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG AB 289/2-1) and this study is part of the AWI Food Web project. This study complies with the current German law on animal studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Postbox 180, 27483, Helgoland, Germany

    Arne M. Malzahn, Florian Hantzsche, Katherina L. Schoo, Maarten Boersma & Nicole Aberle

  2. GKSS-Research Centre, Institute for Coastal Research, Max-Planck-Straße 1, 21502, Geesthacht, Germany

    Arne M. Malzahn, Florian Hantzsche & Maarten Boersma

  3. IFM-GEOMAR, Leibniz Institute for Marine Sciences, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    Katherina L. Schoo

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  1. Arne M. Malzahn
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  4. Maarten Boersma
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  5. Nicole Aberle
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Correspondence to Arne M. Malzahn.

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Communicated by Sebastian Diehl.

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Malzahn, A.M., Hantzsche, F., Schoo, K.L. et al. Differential effects of nutrient-limited primary production on primary, secondary or tertiary consumers. Oecologia 162, 35–48 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1458-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1458-y

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