ABSTRACT
Zooplankton live in an open, exposed environment, where their every move is an open invitation for predation. Faster swimming leads to higher predator-prey encounter rates and therefore an increase in the risk of predation. Predation is a major source of mortality for zooplankton, and therefore a potentially important agent of natural selection. I review ecological constraints on zooplankton swimming behavior and present a graphical cost-benefit model that incorporates:
Potential benefits of swimming rates to population growth rates in the absence of predators.
Costs of swimming rates due to the effect of prey swimming rates on encounter rates with two different pelagic predators: visual fish and tactile invertebrates.
This conceptual and graphical model helps organize our understanding of the factors affecting foraging strategies of freshwater zooplankton. The cost-benefit model allows insight into zooplankton swimming behavior.
