@article{LukasWacker2014,
  author    = {Lukas, Marcus and Wacker, Alexander},
  title     = {Constraints by oxygen and food quality on carbon pathway regulation: a co-limitation study with an aquatic key herbivore},
  series = {Ecology : a publication of the Ecological Society of America},
  volume    = {95},
  journal   = {Ecology : a publication of the Ecological Society of America},
  number    = {11},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {0012-9658},
  pages     = {3068 -- 3079},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {In food webs, herbivores are often constrained by low food quality in terms of mineral and biochemical limitations, which in aquatic ecosystems can co-occur with limited oxygen conditions. As low food quality implies that carbon (C) is available in excess, and therefore a regulation to get rid of excess C is crucial for the performance of consumers, we examined the C pathways (ingestion, feces release, excretion, and respiration) of a planktonic key herbivore (Daphnia magna). We tested whether consumer C pathways increase due to mineral (phosphorus, P) or biochemical (cholesterol and fatty acid) limitations and how these regulations vary when in addition oxygen is low. Under such conditions, at least the capability of the upregulation of respiration may be restricted. Furthermore, we discussed the potential role of the oxygen-transporting protein hemoglobin (Hb) in the regulation of C budgets. Different food quality constraints led to certain C regulation patterns to increase the removal of excess dietary C: P-limited D. magna increased excretion and respiration, while cholesterol-limited Daphnia in addition upregulated the release of feces. In contrast, the regulative effort was low and only feces release increased when D. magna was limited by a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA). Co-limiting oxygen did not always impact the discharge of excess C. We found the food-quality-induced upregulation of respiration was still present at low oxygen. In contrast, higher excretion of excess C was diminished at low oxygen supply. Besides the effect that the Hb concentration increased under low oxygen, our results indicate a low food-quality-induced increase in the Hb content of the animals. Overall, C budgeting is phenotypically plastic towards different (co-) limiting scenarios. These trigger specific regulation responses that could be the result of evolutionary adaptations.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{LukasSperfeldWacker2011,
  author    = {Lukas, Marcus and Sperfeld, Erik and Wacker, Alexander},
  title     = {Growth Rate Hypothesis does not apply across colimiting conditions cholesterol limitation affects phosphorus homoeostasis of an aquatic herbivore},
  series = {Functional ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society},
  volume    = {25},
  journal   = {Functional ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society},
  number    = {6},
  publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell},
  address   = {Malden},
  issn      = {0269-8463},
  doi       = {10.1111/j.1365-2435.2011.01876.x},
  pages     = {1206 -- 1214},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {1. Herbivores show stronger control of element homoeostasis than primary producers, which can lead to constraints in carbon and nutrient transfer efficiencies from plants to animals. Insufficient dietary phosphorus (P) availability can cause reduced body P contents along with lower growth rates of animals, leading to a positive relationship between growth and body P. 2. We examined how a second limiting food component in combination with dietary P limitation influences growth and P homoeostasis of a herbivore and how this colimitation influences the hypothesized positive correlation between body P content and growth rates. Therefore, we investigated the responses in somatic growth and P stoichiometry of Daphnia magna raised on a range of diets with different amounts of P and the sterol cholesterol. 3. Somatic growth rates of D. magna increased asymptotically with increasing P as well as with increasing cholesterol availability. The body P content increased with increasing dietary P and stabilized at high dietary P availability. The observed plasticity in D. magna's P stoichiometry became stronger with increasing cholesterol availability, i.e. with decreasing colimitation by cholesterol. 4. At P-limiting conditions, the positive correlation between body P content and growth rate, as predicted by the growth rate hypothesis (GRH) applied to the within-species level, declined with increasing cholesterol limitation and disappeared entirely when cholesterol was not supplied. Thus, even when Daphnia shows no growth response owing to strong limitation by the colimiting nutrient, the body P content may vary substantially, calling into question the unconditional use of herbivores' P content as predictor of a potential P limitation in nature. 5. The observed interaction between dietary P and cholesterol on Daphnia's growth and stoichiometry can be used as a conceptual framework of how colimiting essential nutrients affect herbivore homoeostasis, and provide further insights into the applicability of the GRH within a consumer species.},
  language  = {en}
}