Escape from UV threats in zooplankton: A cocktail of behavior and protective pigmentation
Hansson, Lars-Anders LU
; Hylander, Samuel
LU
and Sommaruga, Ruben
(2007)
In Ecology
88(8).
p.1932-1939
- Abstract
- In order to avoid environmental threats, organisms may respond by altering behavior or phenotype. Using experiments performed in high-latitude Siberia and in temperate Sweden, we show for the first time that, among freshwater crustacean zooplankton, the defense against threats from ultraviolet radiation (UV) is a system where phenotypic plasticity and behavioral escape mechanisms function as complementary traits. Freshwater copepods relied mainly on accumulating protective pigments when exposed to UV radiation, but Daphnia showed strong behavioral responses. Pigment levels for both Daphnia and copepods were generally higher at higher latitudes, mirroring different UV threat levels. When released from the UV threat, Daphnia rapidly reduced... (More)
- In order to avoid environmental threats, organisms may respond by altering behavior or phenotype. Using experiments performed in high-latitude Siberia and in temperate Sweden, we show for the first time that, among freshwater crustacean zooplankton, the defense against threats from ultraviolet radiation (UV) is a system where phenotypic plasticity and behavioral escape mechanisms function as complementary traits. Freshwater copepods relied mainly on accumulating protective pigments when exposed to UV radiation, but Daphnia showed strong behavioral responses. Pigment levels for both Daphnia and copepods were generally higher at higher latitudes, mirroring different UV threat levels. When released from the UV threat, Daphnia rapidly reduced (within 10 days) their UV protecting pigmentation-by as much as 40%-suggesting a cost in maintaining UV protective pigmentation. The. evolutionary advantage of protective pigments is, likely, the ability to utilize the whole water column during daytime; conversely, since the amount of algal food is generally higher in surface waters, unpigmented individuals are restricted to a less preferred feeding habitat in deeper waters. Our main conclusion is that different zooplankton taxa, and similar taxa at different latitudes, use different mixes of behavior and pigments to respond to UV radiation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/692707
- author
- Hansson, Lars-Anders
LU
; Hylander, Samuel
LU
and Sommaruga, Ruben
- organization
- publishing date
- 2007
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- ultraviolet, trait compensation, pigment, phenotypic plasticity, acid, mycosporine-like amino, limnology, lakes, Daphnia, carotenoid, copepod, radiation, UV radiation, zooplankton
- in
- Ecology
- volume
- 88
- issue
- 8
- pages
- 1932 - 1939
- publisher
- Ecological Society of America
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000248620500010
- scopus:35148890412
- ISSN
- 0012-9658
- DOI
- 10.1890/06-2038.1
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c16f4107-bebc-42f0-815d-a25ba629ed56 (old id 692707)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 15:50:07
- date last changed
- 2024-03-28 09:47:52
@article{c16f4107-bebc-42f0-815d-a25ba629ed56,
abstract = {{In order to avoid environmental threats, organisms may respond by altering behavior or phenotype. Using experiments performed in high-latitude Siberia and in temperate Sweden, we show for the first time that, among freshwater crustacean zooplankton, the defense against threats from ultraviolet radiation (UV) is a system where phenotypic plasticity and behavioral escape mechanisms function as complementary traits. Freshwater copepods relied mainly on accumulating protective pigments when exposed to UV radiation, but Daphnia showed strong behavioral responses. Pigment levels for both Daphnia and copepods were generally higher at higher latitudes, mirroring different UV threat levels. When released from the UV threat, Daphnia rapidly reduced (within 10 days) their UV protecting pigmentation-by as much as 40%-suggesting a cost in maintaining UV protective pigmentation. The. evolutionary advantage of protective pigments is, likely, the ability to utilize the whole water column during daytime; conversely, since the amount of algal food is generally higher in surface waters, unpigmented individuals are restricted to a less preferred feeding habitat in deeper waters. Our main conclusion is that different zooplankton taxa, and similar taxa at different latitudes, use different mixes of behavior and pigments to respond to UV radiation.}},
author = {{Hansson, Lars-Anders and Hylander, Samuel and Sommaruga, Ruben}},
issn = {{0012-9658}},
keywords = {{ultraviolet; trait compensation; pigment; phenotypic plasticity; acid; mycosporine-like amino; limnology; lakes; Daphnia; carotenoid; copepod; radiation; UV radiation; zooplankton}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{8}},
pages = {{1932--1939}},
publisher = {{Ecological Society of America}},
series = {{Ecology}},
title = {{Escape from UV threats in zooplankton: A cocktail of behavior and protective pigmentation}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/06-2038.1}},
doi = {{10.1890/06-2038.1}},
volume = {{88}},
year = {{2007}},
}