Perturbation Planktivory, and Pelagic Community Structure: The Consequence of Winterkill in a Small Lake

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Abstract
The top predator (largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides) in eutrophic Wintergreen Lake, Michigan, was eliminated by successive winterkills in 1978 and 1979. Within 2 yr, the golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas), a facultative planktivore, dominated the fish community. The zooplankton, previously consisting of large Daphnia pulex and D. galeata mendotae, concomitantly shifted to a community consisting of smaller species: Bosmina and small copepods. In situ fish enclosure experiments in 1981 and 1982 revealed that the large Daphnia species would grow in Wintergreen Lake in the absence of the golden shiner. Golden shiners exhibit both a particulate and filtering mode of planktivory on large and small zooplankton, respectively. This flexible feeding behavior suggests that golden shiners are able to prevent the reestablishment of Daphnia, while Bosmina and the other small zooplankton support a high and apparently stable golden shiner density.