Feeding Behavior of Crustaceans (Cladocera, Copepoda and Ostracoda): Food Selection Measured by Stable Isotope Analysis Using R Package SIAR in Mesocosm Experiment
Stable Isotope Analysis (SIA) of carbon and nitrogen is useful tool for the understanding functional roles of target organisms in biological interactions in the food web. Recently, mixing model based on SIA is frequently used to determine which of the potential food sources predominantly assimilated by consumers, however, application of model is often limited and difficult for non-expert users of software. In the present study, we suggest easy manual of R software and package SIAR with example data regarding selective feeding of crustaceans dominated freshwater zooplankton community. We collected SIA data from the experimental mesocosms set up at the littoral area of eutrophic Chodae Reservoir, and analyzed the dominant crustacean species main food sources among small sized particulate organic matters (POM, <50 μm), large sized POM (>50 μm), and attached POM using mixing model. From the results obtained by SIAR model, Daphnia galeata and Ostracoda mainly consumed small sized POM while Simocephalus vetulus consumed both small and large sized POM simultaneously. Copepods collected from the reservoir showed no preferences on various food items, but in the mesocosm tanks, main food sources for the copepods was attached POM rather than planktonic preys including rotifers. The results have suggested that their roles as grazers in food web of eutrophicated reservoirs are different, and S. vetulus is more efficient grazer on wide range of food items such as large colony of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria during water bloom period.