Different Predation Impacts of Two Cyclopoid Species on a Small-sized Zooplankton Community: An Experimental Analysis with Mesocosms

Abstract

We used mesocosms to analyze predation impacts on the prey populations and prey community structures by two cyclopoid copepod species, the larger Mesocyclops pehpeiensis and the smaller Thermocyclops taihokuensis, who coexist with small-sized herbivorous zooplankton species in a fish-abundant lake. The overall predation impact on the prey populations was stronger for Mesocyclops than for Thermocyclops. Mesocyclops had a strong and less selective impact on the rotifer community but a selective impact on the crustaceans. In contrast, Thermocyclops had a selective predation impact on rotifers but a weak and less selective impact on the crustacean community. As a result, the former predator reduced the diversity of the crustacean community but not the rotifer community, while the latter had an opposite impact on the diversities of the two communities. It has been suggested that fish induce development of a zooplankton community dominated by the small-sized zooplankton species in fish-abundant lakes. Our results demonstrated that cyclopoid copepods altered species composition and diversity of the small-sized zooplankton community in such lakes. Thus, the results have given an important suggestion on the role of the invertebrate predator cyclopoid copepods, which often coexist with fish, that they determine population dynamics and community structures of small-sized zooplankton in fish-abundant lakes.