The Effects of Suspended Silt on Feeding and Reproduction of Daphnia pulex

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Abstract
The effect of suspended silt on the feeding and reproduction of D. pulex and the impact of suspended silt and clay of freshwater zooplankton community structure. The effects of suspended silt and clay on the filtering and assimilation rates of D. pulex were determined using a 14C radiotracer method. Both filtering and assimilation rates are severely depressed at even low concentrations of suspended silt and clay. Life table studies also showed population growth rate of zooplankton was significantly diminished by suspended silts and clays. The relative abundance of zooplankton varied markedly between 3 lakes of different turbidity levels, the more turbid lake having a higher relative abundance of large zooplankton species. Suspended silt and clay reduced zooplankton feeding and production but probably influenced zooplankton community structure by impairing the ability of visually feeding planktivorous fish to lactate their prey.