Scheuerl Thomas, Stelzer Claus-Peter
Research Institute for Limnology, University of Innsbruck Mondsee Austria.
Popul Ecol. 2019 Apr;61(2):210-216. doi: 10.1002/1438-390X.1017. Epub 2019 Jan 11.
Many organisms display oscillations in population size. Theory predicts that these fluctuations can be generated by predator-prey interactions, and empirical studies using life model systems, such as a rotifer-algae community consisting of as predator and as prey, have been successfully used for studying such dynamics. is a cyclical parthenogen (CP) and clones often differ in their sexual propensity, that is, the degree to which they engage into sexual or asexual (clonal) reproduction. Since sexual propensities can affect growth rates and population sizes, we hypothesized that this might also affect population oscillations. Here, we studied the dynamical behaviour of clones representing either CPs (regularly inducing sex) or obligate parthenogens (OPs). We found that the amplitudes of population cycles to be increased in OPs at low nutrient levels. Several other population dynamic parameters seemed unaffected. This suggests that reproductive mode might be an important additional variable to be considered in future studies of population oscillations.
许多生物种群数量呈现出波动。理论预测这些波动可由捕食者 - 猎物相互作用产生，并且使用诸如由作为捕食者和作为猎物的轮虫 - 藻类群落等生命模型系统的实证研究已成功用于研究此类动态。是一种周期性孤雌生殖生物（CP），其克隆体在性倾向方面往往存在差异，即它们进行有性或无性（克隆）繁殖的程度。由于性倾向会影响生长速率和种群数量，我们推测这可能也会影响种群波动。在此，我们研究了代表周期性孤雌生殖生物（定期诱导有性生殖）或专性孤雌生殖生物（OP）的克隆体的动态行为。我们发现，在低营养水平下，专性孤雌生殖生物的种群周期振幅会增加。其他几个种群动态参数似乎未受影响。这表明生殖模式可能是未来种群波动研究中需要考虑的一个重要额外变量。
