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Science 4 March 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5714, pp. 1457 - 1459
DOI: 10.1126/science.1107767
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Reports

Nutritional Status and Diet Composition Affect the Value of Diatoms as Copepod Prey

Ruth H. Jones and Kevin J. Flynn*

The role of diatoms as key food for copepods at the base of pelagic food chains has been questioned recently on the grounds of toxicity. We show, using unialgal versus mixed algal diets of different nutritional status (i.e., nitrogen:carbon ratio) fed to Acartia tonsa, that diatoms per se are not toxic but that single-diatom diets are inadequate. Additionally, the nutritional state of the phytoplankton has a profound effect on copepod growth and growth efficiency. The ecological significance of laboratory demonstrations of diatom toxicity needs to be reconsidered.

Institute of Environmental Sustainability, University of Wales, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: k.j.flynn{at}swansea.ac.uk

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Reply to Horizons Article 'Plankton functional type modelling: running before we can walk' Anderson (2005): II. Putting trophic functionality into plankton functional types.
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J. Plankton Res. 28, 873-875
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Effects of nitrogen stressed algae on different Acartia species.
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S. Fonda Umani, V. Tirelli, A. Beran, and B. Guardiani (2005)
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Effect of food composition on egg production and hatching success rate of two copepod species (Calanoides carinatus and Rhincalanus nasutus) in the Benguela upwelling system.
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J. Plankton Res. 27, 393-399
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