Pesticide exposure enhances dominance patterns in a zooplankton community

Exposure to pesticides can profoundly alter community dynamics. It is expected that dominance patterns will be enhanced or reduced depending on whether the dominant species is less or more sensitive to the pesticide than the subdominant species. Community dynamics are, however, also determined by processes linked to population growth as well as competition at carrying capacity. Here, we used a mesocosm experiment to quantify the effect of chlorpyrifos exposure on the population dynamics of four cladoceran species (Daphnia magna, D. pulicaria, D. galeata and Scapholeberis mucronata) in mixed cultures, testing for direct effects of chlorpyrifos and indirect effects mediated by interactions with other species on timing of population growth and dominance at carrying capacity. We also quantified whether the pesticide-induced changes in community dynamics affect top-down control of phytoplankton. By adding a treatment in which we used different genotype combinations of each species, we also t..., ,