Cumulative reproduction model to quantify the production of the invasive species Arctodiaptomus dorsalis (Calanoida, Copepoda)

Arctodiaptomus dorsalis is an invasive calanoid copepod originally from America and has recently established a population in Lake Taal in the Philippines. It has been proposed that eutrophication due to aquaculture contributes to the establishment and success of this species. This study aimed to clarify this hypothesis by quantifying the effect of increasing food concentration on the reproduction of A. dorsalis using an Individual-Based Model. We parameterized food concentration-dependent equations to simulate the effect of different food concentration on the reproductive traits (latency time, embryonic development time, clutch size, and hatching success) of this species using data from the literature and simulated the reproduction of 1000 independent females for 20 days at different food concentration, taking into account the variability among individuals. The simulation results showed that the cumulative production of eggs and offspring increased continuously with time when the food concentration was above 3.2 × 104 cells mL−1, suggesting that this value was the threshold concentration required for stable reproduction of A. dorsalis. This value is not particularly low compared to other copepods. Hence, our result revealed that the food use efficiency of A. dorsalis is not particularly outstanding and urge the need of a comparison with native species to confirm a possible superiority. We suggest that A. dorsalis has filled the ecological niche left vacant by the disappearance of the original species due to the deterioration of water quality caused by the eutrophication of the lake. The reproductive cycle model developed in this study constitutes a necessary step in the development of a complete population dynamics model, which can help clarify the invasive abilities of A. dorsalis.