To estimate costs and benefits of antipredator defenses in the Chaoborus–Daphnia system, we employed lake enclosures wherein controls (C) had no predators, the predation (P) treatment had freely swimming Chaoborus, and the kairomone (K) treatment predators were sequestered in a mesh tube apart from the Daphnia. Population growth (r) of two Daphnia pulex clones, one responsive (RC) and the other...

We tested the hypothesis that ultrasound in controlling cyanobacteria and algal blooms is “environmental friendly” by exposing the non-target zooplankton grazer Daphnia magna to ultrasound produced by commercially available ultrasound transducers. In populations of 15 Daphnia (~2 mm body size) exposed in 800 mL of water to ultrasound supplied at 20 kHz, 28 kHz, 36 kHz or 44 kHz, all animals wer...

The green alga, Scenedesmus acutus, grows in culture in unicellular form, but it forms colonies (coenobia) when exposed for 48 h to a chemical released by the grazer Daphnia magna. The colony-forming response can be evoked only in growing cells. The Daphnia factor affects colony size but not algal growth rate. The minimum concentration of Daphnia factor that induces colony formation is equivale...

Nanowires (NWs) have unique electrical and optical properties of value for many applications including lighting, sensing, and energy harnessing. Consumer products containing NWs increase the risk of NWs being released in the environment, especially into aquatic ecosystems through sewage systems. Daphnia magna is a common, cosmopolitan freshwater organism sensitive to toxicity tests and represen...

This meeting report presents the cutting-edge research that is developing around the waterflea Daphnia, an emerging model system in environmental genomics. Daphnia has been a model species in ecology, toxicology and evolution for many years and is supported by a large community of ecologists, evolutionary biologists and ecotoxicologists. Thanks to new advances in genomics and transciptomics and...

PURPOSE To analyze the long-term effects of exposure to low-dose γ-irradiation on survival and life span in directly irradiated Daphnia magna and their offspring. MATERIALS AND METHODS One-day-old Daphnia magna were exposed to 10, 100 and 1000 mGy of acute γ-rays. The life-span of irradiated and control animals, as well as their non-exposed progeny was analyzed. RESULTS Irradiation at dose ...

Freshwater zooplankton is increasingly used to study effects of dispersal on community and metacommunity structure. Yet, it remains unclear how zooplankton disperses. Clearly, birds and wind play a significant role as zooplankton dispersal agents, but they may not always be the main vectors. This experimental study shows that a cosmopolitan aquatic insect, Notonecta, can be an important vector ...

Organisms around the globe are experiencing novel environments created by human activities. One such disturbance of growing concern is the salinization of freshwater habitats from the application of road deicing salts, which creates salinity levels not experienced within the recent evolutionary history of most freshwater organisms. Moreover, salinization can induce trophic cascades and alter th...

Alcoholic beverage is any fermented liquor such as wine, beer, or distilled spirit that contains ethyl alcohol or ethanol as intoxicating agent. Daphnia ( Daphnia magna) or water flea is a planktonic crustacean commonly found in canals and other waterways. It has been used as a standard organism for toxicity testing and toxicological reaction to environmental pollutants. The study is concerned ...

Predicting the ecological responses to climate change is particularly challenging, because organisms might be affected simultaneously by the synergistic effects of multiple environmental stressors. Global warming is often accompanied by declining calcium concentration in many freshwater ecosystems. Although there is growing evidence that these changes in water chemistry and thermal conditions c...