Many features of ecological systems are influenced by the life-history traits of the organisms that occur with them. This research project will examine links between a key life-history stage, dormancy, and a series of ecological features of habitats where it can play an important role in controlling the occurrence and influence of organisms. Dormancy is a important factor in the life histories of freshwater zooplankton species. This collaborative research project will examine the functional role of diapause in the existence of a key zooplankton genus, Daphnia, and the influence of its occurrence on other components of lake-plankton systems. It will allow plankton food-web studies to go beyond their typical year-by-year basis to take a longer term perspective. It will test specifically whether there is a trade off between investments in dormancy and the persistence of active stages for specific lakes and daphnid populations. This project will develop a multi-year perspective that links life-history theory on dormancy to trophic dynamics with the context of a natural gradient of habitat permanence.
