Large-amplitude cycles of Daphnia and its algal prey in enriched environments

Edward McCauley (), Roger M. Nisbet, William W. Murdoch, Andre M. de Roos and William S. C. Gurney
Additional contact information
Edward McCauley: University of Calgary
Roger M. Nisbet: Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California
William W. Murdoch: Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California
Andre M. de Roos: Section Population Biology, University of Amsterdam
William S. C. Gurney: University of Strathclyde

Nature, 1999, vol. 402, issue 6762, 653-656

Abstract: Abstract Ecological theory predicts that stable populations should yield to large-amplitude cycles in richer environments1,2,3. This does not occur in nature. The zooplankton Daphnia and its algal prey in lakes throughout the world illustrate the problem4,5,6. Experiments show that this system fits the theory's assumptions7,8,9, yet it is not destabilized by enrichment6. We have tested and rejected four of five proposed explanations10. Here, we investigate the fifth mechanism: inedible algae in nutrient-rich lakes suppress cycles by reducing nutrients available to edible algae. We found three novel results in nutrient-rich microcosms from which inedible algae were excluded. First, as predicted by theory, some Daphnia-edible algal systems now display large-amplitude predator-prey cycles. Second, in the same environment, other populations are stable, showing only small-amplitude demographic cycles. Stability is induced when Daphnia diverts energy from the immediate production of young. Third, the system exhibits coexisting attractors—a stable equilibrium and large-amplitude cycle. We describe a mechanism that flips the system between these two states.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/45223

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