Experimental records of the effects of food patchiness and predation on egg production of Acartia tonsa

Abstract

The effects of predation and spatial patchiness in food distribution on egg production of the marine calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa were investigated in the laboratory. A postexperiment egg production method was developed to override the decline in number of copepods due to predation. The copepods were able to remain in food patches about 41–47% of the time, and consequently egg production rates were higher than expected from the average food concentration. Predation by the calanoid copepod Labidocera aestiva tended to increase egg production rates of A. tonsa. The interaction of patchiness and predation resulted in relatively less time spent by A. tonsa in the food patches, probably as a consequence of conflict between hunger level and predation risk.