Dynamics of Zooplankton Consumption by the Three-Spined Stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus (LINNAEUS, 1758) at Different Densities of the Predator

Abstract

An experiment was set up to estimate the rate of zooplankton consumption by the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus (Linnaeus, 1758) at different predatordensities. A differential equation describes the dynamics of zooplankton abundance depending on duration of predator feeding. The derived function accurately characterizes the rate of zooplankton consumption by stickleback in the experiment, demonstrating a good agreement between the theoretical prerequisites and the experimental results. The relationship between changing a number of victims during predation, its mortality and consumption rate was revealed. The hypothesis ofconsumption rate proportionalto the number of predators was tested. A comparative analysis of ingestion rate as a function of time and a function of prey density was performed.