Influence of Parasitism on Consumer Driven Nutrient Recycling by Aquatic Insects
Abstract
Parasites have only recently gained the attention they deserve in studies involving their role in ecosystems. Using ecological stoichiometry will allow parasite roles to be established. I attempted to establish parasite effects on hosts by measuring the excretion Nitrogen:Phosphorus of infected Megarcys signata, infected Baetis bicaudatus, and their parasite free counterparts. I had hypothesized that the excretion N:P of infected hosts would be greater than the excretion N:P of parasite free hosts. However, the data is proving that the excretion N:P does not shift for Megarcys signata of increasing infection level. The shift in excretion occurs from parasite free to parasitized; the N:P’s of excretion significantly differ. The Megarcys signata mass specific excretion rates of ammonium(N) and phosphate(P) do increase, but N increased at nearly twice the rate of P. My interpretation of these results is that the change in excretion is not because of a functional change in the Megarcys, but simply because of the addition of mites to the overall organism excretion equation. The increase of N and P excretion reflects the low body N:P of the water mite parasites. The mass specific excretion of phosphorous and nitrogen from Baetis bicaudatus were not found to be significantly different as the increased. Since nitrogen and phosphorus excretion did not change, this implies that the N:P of excretion did not change. The difference between the effects of mites and Mermithids is proposed to be because of their location and how they feed on the host.
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References (12)
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