Skip Navigation


JPR Advance Access originally published online on November 23, 2005
Journal of Plankton Research 2006 28(1):55-63; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbi100
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/1/55    most recent
fbi100v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Weisse, T.
Right arrow Articles by Rammer, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Weisse, T.
Right arrow Articles by Rammer, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Pronounced ecophysiological clonal differences of two common freshwater ciliates, Coleps spetai (Prostomatida) and Rimostrombidium lacustris (Oligotrichida), challenge the morphospecies concept

Thomas Weisse* and Sabine Rammer

Institute for Limnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Mondseestrasse 9, A-5310 Mondsee, Austria

* Corresponding Author: thomas.weisse{at}oeaw.ac.at

Received August 1, 2005; accepted in principle October 25, 2005; accepted for publication November 7, 2005; published online November 23, 2005
Communicating editor: K.J. Flynn

Cell volume, growth and production rates of two common planktonic freshwater ciliates, the prostomatid Coleps spetai and the oligotrich Rimostrombidium lacustris, were investigated in clonal laboratory cultures. The clones were isolated from oligo-mesotrophic alpine Lake Mondsee, Austria, during summer and kept in culture with the small cryptophyte Cryptomonas sp. as food. All parameters investigated revealed significant clonal differences among both species. The extent of the clonal differences was comparable to differences observed earlier between similar planktonic ciliate species. The ecological relevance of varying clonal growth rates was evaluated using a simple numerical model. The model outcome suggests that differences in growth rates by 10% may significantly alter the clonal composition in the course of a ciliate peak in temperate lakes. The experimental results and the model outcome are discussed in the context of the functional diversity of freshwater ciliates. It is concluded that the morphospecies concept, which is the most widely used concept by both ciliate taxonomists and ecologists, may severely underestimate the ecological plasticity and the functional diversity of aquatic ciliates.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.