Center address
Finse Alpine Research Center (map)
P.O. Box 53
NO-5719
Finse
Norway
Surviving the winter is a special challenge for herbivorous aquatic invertebrates in the alpine region due to long period of ice cover and cessation of primary production. Daphnids that reproduce parthenogenetically during the summer, with 2-3 generation through July and August, solve that problem with depositing sexually produced resting eggs in the autumn. However, the species at Finse, Daphnia umbra , also has an alternative strategy. Instead of producing parthenogenetic or sexual eggs in the autumn, they start storing lipid droplets in the body cavity.
Surviving the winter is a special challenge for herbivorous aquatic invertebrates in the alpine region due to long period of ice cover and cessation of primary production. Daphnids that reproduce parthenogenetically during the summer, with 2-3 generation through July and August, solve that problem with depositing sexually produced resting eggs in the autumn. However, the species at Finse, Daphnia umbra, also has an alternative strategy. Instead of producing parthenogenetic or sexual eggs in the autumn, they start storing lipid droplets in the body cavity.