Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001
| SS35 Biological and Ecological Responses to Low Oxygen in Constant and Fluctuating Environments (Spatial and Temporal Connections) |
| Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001, Time: 10:00:00 AM |
| Location: La Cienega |
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| Kolesar, S, E, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Research, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, USA, kolesar@acnatsci.org |
| Breitburg, D, L, The Academy of Natural Sciences Estuarine Research Center, St. Leonard, USA, breit@acnatsci.org |
| Rose, K, A, Coastal Fisheries Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA, karose@lsu.edu |
| Adamack, A, T, Coastal Fisheries Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA, aadama1@lsu.edu |
| Cowan, J, H, Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, USA, jcowan@jaguar1.usouthal.edu |
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| THE INFLUENCE OF HYPOXIA ON THE CTENOPHORE MNEMIOPSIS LEIDYI: APPLYING EXPERIMENTS, FIELD SAMPLING, AND INDIVIDUAL-BASED MODELING TO A STUDY OF FISH POPULATIONS |
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| Low dissolved oxygen (DO) in aquatic ecosystems limits space available to organisms, altering encounter rates and predator/prey interactions. We investigated how hypoxia influences predation by lobate ctenophores, Mnemiopsis leidyi, on Chesapeake Bay ichthyoplankton. Hypoxic conditions may favor ctenophores because of their greater tolerance to low DO. The vertical overlap between predator and prey varied with bottom DO in the field. Overlap was greatest at bottom DO of 4 mg/L or more, and least at bottom DO between 1 and 2 mg/L. Laboratory experiments indicated that predation rates by ctenophores on Gobisoma bosc larvae and Anchoa mitchilli eggs and yolk sac larvae were unaffected by hypoxia, but swimming speeds and behavior changed. Field and laboratory results were used in an individual-based predation model to predict how hypoxia influences predator/prey dynamics. Larval survival was sometimes higher when the bottom layer was hypoxic than when DO was high throughout the water column. Our results indicate that hypoxia shifts the distribution of ctenophores and ichthyoplankton, altering predation. Applying this conceptual framework to the Black Sea may help understand that ecosystem after M. leidyi introduction. |
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