Basal dietary resources and dietary niche of the keystone grazer, Daphnia pulex, in an abandoned, meromictic mining lake [Quebec, Canada, 2024]

For each sampling day, water and Daphnia pulex samples were collected during both day and night across a depth gradient in a meromictic mining lake. Daphnia pulex specimens were collected for (1) stable isotope analyses (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) and (2) estimating population density and average body size.

Water samples were collected for (1) measuring abiotic parameters, (2) sequencing basal microbial communities using 16S/18S rRNA gene sequencing, and (3) stable isotope analyses of particulate organic matter to infer dietary sources.