Planktonic predation risk: effects of diel state, season and prey life history stage

Abstract

Predation is considered an important source of mortality for plankton, but documenting variation in planktonic predation, particularly across interacting environmental cycles, remains logistically difficult, thus our understanding remains limited. To test for the combined effects of prey life history stage, diel or light level phase (including crepuscular periods) and seasonal upwelling on the risk of predation, we deployed tethered adult and larval brine shrimp Artemia franciscana using dock-based plankton tethering units (PTUs). Risk was higher overall during upwelling, but life history stage also interacted with season. There was no seasonal difference in risk for adults. Larvae were at significantly lower risk of predation during non-upwelling than during upwelling. Larvae were also at lower risk during non-upwelling than were adults during either season. During upwelling, there was no significant difference in risk between the two prey categories. With respect to the diel cycle, dusk was safer than daytime. For larvae, the diel pattern in risk remained consistent across seasons while risk for adults at night was slightly lower during upwelling than during non-upwelling. Variation in planktonic predation risk across diel and seasonal cycles differs for different life history stages and thus, generalizations fail to capture the complexity of interactions between factors.