title: Consequences of physical disturbance by tadpoles and snails on chironomid larvae.
abstract: Indirect interactions among community members impact on organisms. The effects of two snails, banded pond snail, Bellamya bengalensis (Lamarck), and Red-rimmed melania, Melanoides tuberculata (Müller), and tadpoles of Asian common toad, Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider), on nonbiting midge larvae, Chironomus striatipennis Kieffer, were observed in experimental microcosm. Decrease in tube number and tube length of midge larvae was observed compared to control condition due to introduction of selected above mentioned organisms. The direct effects of non-predator organisms on the midge larvae are due to physical disturbance that destroys their tubes. This may result in vulnerability of midge larvae to predators in the wild. So the community structure may be altered by indirect effects, where one or more species, through their direct disturbance, indirectly change the abundance of other species.
authors.affiliation: Entomology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan 713 104, India.
authors.forename: Gargi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.affiliation: Ecology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan 713 104, India.
authors.forename: Gautam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aditya
authors.affiliation: Entomology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan 713 104, India.
authors.forename: Niladri
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hazra
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001686:Biological Phenomena; D002025:Bufonidae; D002683:Chironomidae; D007814:Larva; D012908:Snails