Marcin Krzysztof Dziuba

University of Michigan | U-M · Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Under conditions of global warming, organisms are expected to track their thermal preferences, invading new habitats at higher latitudes and altitudes and altering the structure of local communities. To fend off potential invaders, indigenous communities/populations will have to rapidly adapt to the increase in temperature. In this study, we tested...

To test the general assumption that global warming will induce body size reduction in aquatic organisms, we used a system of lakes continually heated for six decades by warm water discharge from power plants. Their temperature elevation of 3–4°C corresponds with climate change forecasts for the end of the 21st century. We compared body size and rep...

Climate warming might modify infection outcomes and it has been proposed that temperature increase will result in a “sicker world.” We tested this hypothesis by comparing the prevalence of infection in a common freshwater host–parasite system (crustacean Daphnia infected with the ichthyosporean pathogen Caullerya mesnili) between five artificially...

There is intense interest in understanding the degree of damage caused by a pathogen. However, despite abundant evidence that effects of stressors can carry across generations, studies of pathogen virulence have focused almost exclusively on a single generation. Here, we describe transgenerational virulence, where parental exposure to a pathogen re...

One major concern related to climate change is that elevated temperatures will drive increases in parasite outbreaks. Increasing temperature is known to alter host traits and host–parasite interactions, but we know relatively little about how these are connected mechanistically—that is, about how warmer temperatures impact the relationship between...

Cryoconite, the dark sediment on the surface of glaciers, often aggregates into oval or irregular granules serving as biogeochemical factories. They reduce a glacier's albedo, act as biodiversity hotspots by supporting aerobic and anaerobic microbial communities, constitute one of the organic matter (OM) sources on glaciers, and are a feeder for mi...

Symbiosis is increasingly recognized as a dynamic relationship, with the net outcome falling along a continuum from mutualism to parasitism. A key example of this comes from a recently discovered microsporidian symbiont of Daphnia, the net impact of which was found to vary from negative to positive. We investigated the taxonomic position of this mi...

Organisms are increasingly facing multiple stressors, which can simultaneously interact to cause unpredictable impacts compared with a single stressor alone. Recent evidence suggests that phenotypic plasticity can allow for rapid responses to altered environments, including biotic and abiotic stressors, both within a generation and across generatio...

Organisms are increasingly facing multiple stressors, which can simultaneously interact to cause unpredictable impacts compared to a single stressor alone. Recent evidence suggests that phenotypic plasticity can allow for rapid responses to altered environments, including biotic and abiotic stressors, both within a generation and across generations...

Transgenerational plasticity can help organisms respond rapidly to changing environments. Most prior studies of transgenerational plasticity in host–parasite interactions have focused on the host, leaving us with a limited understanding of transgenerational plasticity of parasites. We tested whether exposure to elevated temperatures while spores ar...

Infectious disease can threaten host populations. Hosts can rapidly evolve resistance during epidemics, with this evolution often modulated by fitness trade-offs (e.g., between resistance and fecundity). However, many organisms switch between asexual and sexual reproduction, and this shift in reproductive strategy can also alter how resistance in h...

One major concern related to climate change is that elevated temperatures will drive increases in parasite outbreaks. Increasing temperature is known to alter host traits and host-parasite interactions, but we know relatively little about how these are connected mechanistically – that is, about how elevated temperatures impact the relationship betw...

Organism dispersal is nowadays highly driven by human vectors. This also refers to the aquatic organisms that can often silently spread in and invade new waters, especially when human vectors of dispersal act without brakes. Thus, it is mandatory to continuously identify human-mediated mechanisms of organism dispersal and implement proper biosecuri...

Tardigrades are microinvertebrates inhabiting almost all aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems throughout the world. They are known for their ability to enter into cryptobiosis and to survive extreme environmental conditions (e.g. lack of water, very high and low temperatures, high doses of radiation, vacuum space). Thanks to these abilities, tardigra...

The global increase in cyanobacterial blooms poses environmental and health threats. Selected cyanobacterial strains reveal toxicities despite a lack of synthesis of known toxic metabolites, and the mechanisms of these toxicities are not well understood. Here we investigated the toxicity of non-cylindrospermopsin and non-microcystin producing Aphan...

We compared taxon composition of the Daphnia longispina hybrid community, as reconstructed from dormant eggs (retrieved from sediment samples) and the pelagic population (retrieved from formaldehyde-preserved zooplankton samples), from the same lake and of the same time period. As microsatellite markers do not work on largely fragmented DNA, such a...

Please use the link below to download the paper. https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/4P9xjerSGuJISRF9YSjq/full

Body size is a key determinant of fitness in Daphnia. Bigger size means higher feeding efficiency and reproduction. However, filamentous cyanobacteria have a more detrimental effect on larger daphnids. Predicted global warming is expected to reduce size of Daphnia and facilitate frequent occurrence of cyanobacteria. Therefore, we asked two question...

It is assumed that daphnids adjust the filter screen morphology in order to minimize the interference with cyanobacterial filaments. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of filamentous cyanobacteria (Aphanizomenon gracile Lemmermann, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii Woloszynska Seenaya et Subba Raju) on the thickness and length of seta...

An attempt was made to find evidence that morphologically distinct terminal cells of filamentous cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon gracile strain CCALA 8 are capable of dividing and forming trichomes. Based on our current knowledge, the division of morphologically diversified terminal cells is possible in nostocalean cyanobacteria. However, this process...

Recent studies have shown that the filamentous cyanobacterium Aphanizomenon gracile Lemmermann, strain SAG 31.79, consists of two types of filaments that differ in thickness. These two types are known to vary in resistance to Daphnia magna grazing: thin filaments (<2.5 µm) are more vulnerable to grazing than the thick ones (>2.5 µm). In this study,...

Greenhouses form favourable conditions for establishing stable populations of native as well as invasive alien microinvertebrates. Investigations of palm houses have a long tradition and native, alien and new species for science have been found in many of them. The examined pond and some microreservoirs in Bromeliaceae and Agavoideae in Poznań Palm...

Filamentous cyanobacteria are known to negatively affect the life history of planktonic herbivores through mechanical interference with filtering apparatus. Here, we hypothesise that not only the length but also the thickness of cyanobacterial filaments is an important factor shaping the life history of Daphnia. To test our hypothesis, we cultured...

Filamentous cyanobacteria are frequently consumed by grazers like Daphnia, which can break filaments and make them more readily available to filter-feeders. However, various defence mechanisms against grazing have also been observed in cyanobacteria. Data concerning changes in the morphology of filamentous algae, especially their width in the prese...

Scarcity of knowledge on the distribution of freshwater Cladocera and Copepoda is obvious due to small number of faunistic investigations. Especially copepods have been usually omitted during hydrobiological research. The aim of the study was to describe the species composition of Cladocera and Copepoda in the Kierskie Male Lake which is a part of...

In this report, the macrophyte associations of Lake Durowskie near Wągrowiec, Poland is studied. After severe algal bloom events in recent years, a lake restoration program was started in 2009. The research is focused on the present macrophyte situation in the lake. A map of macrophyte cover is derived from field studies. Ecological indices (ESRI,...