De Meester, N.

Derycke, S.

Guden, R.M.

Moens, T.

Open Marine Archive

112 
Poster presentation Competition poster 
Differential effects of resource diversity on taxis to food, population 
growth, and interspecific interactions of cryptic marine nematode species  
Guden Rodgee Mae1, De Meester Nele1, Derycke Sofie2 and Moens Tom1 
1  Universiteit Gent, Onderzoeksgroep Mariene Biologie (UGent-MARBIOL), Campus De Sterre S8, 
Krijgslaan 281, 9000 Gent, Belgium 
 E-mail: rodgeemae.guden@ugent.be 
2  Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Fisheries and Aquatic 
Production, Ankerstraat 1, 8400 Oostende, Belgium 
 
Resource partitioning has been central for understanding the dynamic changes of species 
composition and coexistence in biological communities. Based on the principle of competitive 
exclusion, species occupying the same ecological niche cannot coexist for a long time due to 
strong interspecific competition for resources. The approach to reduce competition is to 
diversify niches, for instance, through resource partitioning. This may seem unlikely for cryptic 
species, i.e., morphologically (nearly) identical but genetically different species, but previous 
investigations have shown that these closely-related species differ in ecological characteristics 
and may exhibit differential food preferences. However, the importance of resource diversity in 
facilitating coexistence of cryptic species remains poorly understood, particularly in marine 
ecosystems. Nematodes are one of the most abundant and species-rich taxa in marine 
environments and may play significant roles in ecosystem processes such as benthic 
mineralization and organic matter decomposition. They can perceive many attractive and 
repellent chemical cues in the environment, among others emanating from their food, which can 
be important in their foraging, reproduction and survival strategies. Litoditis marina is a 
bacterivore nematode species complex associated with macro-algae, with four cryptic lineages 
(Pm I-IV) that are often found to co-occur in the field.  Here, we investigate food preference in 
the four cryptic species (Pm I-IV) of L. marina using taxis (i.e. a directed movement)-to-food 
assays, and explore population growth in monospecific and interspecific treatments (using 
qPCR) under different levels of resource (bacteria) diversity. 
 
Keywords: Cryptic species; Coexistence; Resource partitioning; Resource diversity; Nematodes 
  


Differential effects of resource diversity on taxis to food, population growth, and interspecific interactions of cryptic marine nematode species

http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/324886.pdf

Differential effects of resource diversity on taxis to food, population growth, and interspecific interactions of cryptic marine nematode species

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Open Marine Archive