Aggregation effects on anhydrobiotic survival in the tardigrade Richtersius coronifer
(2004) In Journal of Experimental Zoology 301A(2). p.195-199- Abstract
- For anhydrobiotic metazoans the rate of desiccation is an important factor influencing the probability of survival in a dry anhydrobiotic state. Formation of animal aggregations, in which the exposed body surface area of individual animals is reduced, represents one way to reduce the rate of evaporation. Such aggregations have earlier been documented in e.g., nematodes. We experimentally evaluate the effect of aggregation size (number of animals in a group of desiccating animals) on anhydrobiotic survival in the eutardigrade Richtersius coronifer. The experiment shows that aggregation provides a clear improvement on anhydrobiotic survival. The most likely explanation for this is that aggregated animals were exposed to a lower rate of... (More)
- For anhydrobiotic metazoans the rate of desiccation is an important factor influencing the probability of survival in a dry anhydrobiotic state. Formation of animal aggregations, in which the exposed body surface area of individual animals is reduced, represents one way to reduce the rate of evaporation. Such aggregations have earlier been documented in e.g., nematodes. We experimentally evaluate the effect of aggregation size (number of animals in a group of desiccating animals) on anhydrobiotic survival in the eutardigrade Richtersius coronifer. The experiment shows that aggregation provides a clear improvement on anhydrobiotic survival. The most likely explanation for this is that aggregated animals were exposed to a lower rate of desiccation. Although the empirical evidence of aggregation in tardigrades is scarce, our study suggests that aggregation could potentially be an important survival factor for tardigrades living in environments characterized by periods of rapid desiccation. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/135428
- author
- Olofsson, Helen LU and Jönsson, Ingemar LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2004
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Journal of Experimental Zoology
- volume
- 301A
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 195 - 199
- publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:14743519
- wos:000188711000010
- scopus:1042291359
- ISSN
- 0022-104X
- DOI
- 10.1002/jez.a.20018
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Theoretical ecology (Closed 2011) (011006011)
- id
- 1e848647-3eeb-48f0-8671-88bbe1bbd3d5 (old id 135428)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:48:14
- date last changed
- 2022-01-28 22:17:40
@article{1e848647-3eeb-48f0-8671-88bbe1bbd3d5,
abstract = {{For anhydrobiotic metazoans the rate of desiccation is an important factor influencing the probability of survival in a dry anhydrobiotic state. Formation of animal aggregations, in which the exposed body surface area of individual animals is reduced, represents one way to reduce the rate of evaporation. Such aggregations have earlier been documented in e.g., nematodes. We experimentally evaluate the effect of aggregation size (number of animals in a group of desiccating animals) on anhydrobiotic survival in the eutardigrade Richtersius coronifer. The experiment shows that aggregation provides a clear improvement on anhydrobiotic survival. The most likely explanation for this is that aggregated animals were exposed to a lower rate of desiccation. Although the empirical evidence of aggregation in tardigrades is scarce, our study suggests that aggregation could potentially be an important survival factor for tardigrades living in environments characterized by periods of rapid desiccation. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.}},
author = {{Olofsson, Helen and Jönsson, Ingemar}},
issn = {{0022-104X}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{195--199}},
publisher = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
series = {{Journal of Experimental Zoology}},
title = {{Aggregation effects on anhydrobiotic survival in the tardigrade Richtersius coronifer}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jez.a.20018}},
doi = {{10.1002/jez.a.20018}},
volume = {{301A}},
year = {{2004}},
}