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Lai SY, Pálsson A, Guðbergsson G, Jónsson IR, Ólafsson JS, Bárðarson H. The prey availability and diet of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in low-productivity rivers in northern Europe. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2024; 105:72-84. [PMID: 38632843 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.15757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
The availability of resources varies across a species distributional range, and a low-productivity area can make a species more vulnerable. We investigated the invertebrate composition and prey choice of juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in low-productivity rivers in northeast Iceland, which is one of the species' most northerly distributions. By sampling benthic and drift invertebrate populations, we found that prey availability was similar within and between rivers. Gut content samples showed that the main prey choice for juvenile S. salar was the Chironomidae. The type of food items consumed varied across different weight groups of S. salar, with smaller juveniles having more diverse diet. S. salar did not have a selection preference for chironomids, which indicates that they were eating the highly available prey in their environment, rather than hunting high biomass items such as terrestrial invertebrates and large Dipterans. Estimates of dietary niche showed that S. salar in these low-productivity rivers relied on consuming what was most readily available, the chironomids, and that they must share resources with other salmonid species. This may be due to the low diversity of freshwater invertebrates (fewer prey options), whereas S. salar in nutrient-rich rivers could rely more on terrestrial invertebrates as an additional subsidy in their diet. In conclusion, with limited prey choices, juvenile S. salar in nutrient-poor rivers, especially in a biogeographically isolated region with low species diversity, may increase in vulnerability and decrease in adaptability to environmental change. Management methods that increase benthic prey abundance and diversity are recommended for conserving the S. salar population in a nutrient-poor river.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sum Yi Lai
- Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Hafnarfjördur, Iceland
- University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | | | | | | | - Jón S Ólafsson
- Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Hafnarfjördur, Iceland
| | - Hlynur Bárðarson
- Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Hafnarfjördur, Iceland
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2
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Temporal variation in the summer diet of the weddell seal, leptonychotes weddellii, at hope bay, antarctic peninsula. Polar Biol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s00300-022-03104-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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3
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Woodward G, Morris O, Barquín J, Belgrano A, Bull C, de Eyto E, Friberg N, Guðbergsson G, Layer-Dobra K, Lauridsen RB, Lewis HM, McGinnity P, Pawar S, Rosindell J, O’Gorman EJ. Using Food Webs and Metabolic Theory to Monitor, Model, and Manage Atlantic Salmon—A Keystone Species Under Threat. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.675261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Populations of Atlantic salmon are crashing across most of its natural range: understanding the underlying causes and predicting these collapses in time to intervene effectively are urgent ecological and socioeconomic priorities. Current management techniques rely on phenomenological analyses of demographic population time-series and thus lack a mechanistic understanding of how and why populations may be declining. New multidisciplinary approaches are thus needed to capitalize on the long-term, large-scale population data that are currently scattered across various repositories in multiple countries, as well as marshaling additional data to understand the constraints on the life cycle and how salmon operate within the wider food web. Here, we explore how we might combine data and theory to develop the mechanistic models that we need to predict and manage responses to future change. Although we focus on Atlantic salmon—given the huge data resources that already exist for this species—the general principles developed here could be applied and extended to many other species and ecosystems.
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O'Gorman EJ. Multitrophic diversity sustains ecological complexity by dampening top-down control of a shallow marine benthic food web. Ecology 2021; 102:e03274. [PMID: 33368225 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Biodiversity is typically considered as a one-dimensional metric (e.g., species richness), yet the consequences of species loss may be different depending on where extinctions occur in the food web. Here, I used a manipulative field experiment in a temperate subtidal marine system to explore the implications of diversity loss at multiple trophic levels for ecosystem functioning and food web structure. The four manipulated predators included the small painted goby and common prawn, which are also fed on by the larger black goby and shore crab. Antagonistic interactions between the manipulated predators (e.g., intraguild predation, intimidation, interference competition) limited their negative effects on the rest of the food web. Top-down control was so suppressed at the highest level of multitrophic diversity that the resulting food webs were as complex and productive as those containing no manipulated predators. Negative interactions between the predators weakened as multitrophic diversity decreased, however, resulting in stronger consumption of lower trophic levels and a simpler food web with lower rates of two key ecosystem processes: primary production and decomposition. These results show how indirect interactions between predators on multiple trophic levels help to promote the complexity and functioning of natural systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eoin J O'Gorman
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom
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Haro MM, Silveira LCP, Wilby A. Stability lies in flowers: Plant diversification mediating shifts in arthropod food webs. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0193045. [PMID: 29451903 PMCID: PMC5815608 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2017] [Accepted: 02/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Arthropod community composition in agricultural landscapes is dependent on habitat characteristics, such as plant composition, landscape homogeneity and the presence of key resources, which are usually absent in monocultures. Manipulating agroecosystems through the insertion of in-field floral resources is a useful technique to reduce the deleterious effects of habitat simplification. Food web analysis can clarify how the community reacts to the presence of floral resources which favour ecosystem services such as biological control of pest species. Here, we reported quantitative and qualitative alterations in arthropod food web complexity due to the presence of floral resources from the Mexican marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) in a field scale lettuce community network. The presence of marigold flowers in the field successfully increased richness, body size, and the numerical and biomass abundance of natural enemies in the lettuce arthropod community, which affected the number of links, vulnerability, generality, omnivory rate and food chain length in the community, which are key factors for the stability of relationships between species. Our results reinforce the notion that diversification through insertion of floral resources may assist in preventing pest outbreaks in agroecosystems. This community approach to arthropod interactions in agricultural landscapes can be used in the future to predict the effect of different management practices in the food web to contribute with a more sustainable management of arthropod pest species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo Mendes Haro
- Laboratório de Entomologia, Estação Experimental de Itajaí, Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária e Extensão Rural de Santa Catarina (Epagri), Itajaí, Santa Catarina, Brazil
- Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, Lancashire, United Kingdom
| | | | - Andrew Wilby
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, Lancashire, United Kingdom
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Dougoud M, Vinckenbosch L, Rohr RP, Bersier LF, Mazza C. The feasibility of equilibria in large ecosystems: A primary but neglected concept in the complexity-stability debate. PLoS Comput Biol 2018; 14:e1005988. [PMID: 29420532 PMCID: PMC5821382 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2017] [Revised: 02/21/2018] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The consensus that complexity begets stability in ecosystems was challenged in the seventies, a result recently extended to ecologically-inspired networks. The approaches assume the existence of a feasible equilibrium, i.e. with positive abundances. However, this key assumption has not been tested. We provide analytical results complemented by simulations which show that equilibrium feasibility vanishes in species rich systems. This result leaves us in the uncomfortable situation in which the existence of a feasible equilibrium assumed in local stability criteria is far from granted. We extend our analyses by changing interaction structure and intensity, and find that feasibility and stability is warranted irrespective of species richness with weak interactions. Interestingly, we find that the dynamical behaviour of ecologically inspired architectures is very different and richer than that of unstructured systems. Our results suggest that a general understanding of ecosystem dynamics requires focusing on the interplay between interaction strength and network architecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michaël Dougoud
- Department of Mathematics, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Laura Vinckenbosch
- Department of Mathematics, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
- University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland - HES-SO, Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland
| | - Rudolf P. Rohr
- Department of Biology, Unit of Ecology and Evolution, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Louis-Félix Bersier
- Department of Biology, Unit of Ecology and Evolution, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Christian Mazza
- Department of Mathematics, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
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Fish prey of Weddell seals, Leptonychotes weddellii, at Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula, during the late summer. Polar Biol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00300-018-2255-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Ma A, Bohan DA, Canard E, Derocles SA, Gray C, Lu X, Macfadyen S, Romero GQ, Kratina P. A Replicated Network Approach to ‘Big Data’ in Ecology. ADV ECOL RES 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2018.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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McElroy DJ, O'Gorman EJ, Schneider FD, Hetjens H, Le Merrer P, Coleman RA, Emmerson M. Size-balanced community reorganization in response to nutrients and warming. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2015; 21:3971-3981. [PMID: 26147063 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2014] [Revised: 06/01/2015] [Accepted: 06/18/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
It is widely accepted that global warming will adversely affect ecological communities. As ecosystems are simultaneously exposed to other anthropogenic influences, it is important to address the effects of climate change in the context of many stressors. Nutrient enrichment might offset some of the energy demands that warming can exert on organisms by stimulating growth at the base of the food web. It is important to know whether indirect effects of warming will be as ecologically significant as direct physiological effects. Declining body size is increasingly viewed as a universal response to warming, with the potential to alter trophic interactions. To address these issues, we used an outdoor array of marine mesocosms to examine the impacts of warming, nutrient enrichment and altered top-predator body size on a community comprised of the predator (shore crab Carcinus maenas), various grazing detritivores (amphipods) and algal resources. Warming increased mortality rates of crabs, but had no effect on their moulting rates. Nutrient enrichment and warming had near diametrically opposed effects on the assemblage, confirming that the ecological effects of these two stressors can cancel each other out. This suggests that nutrient-enriched systems might act as an energy refuge to populations of species under metabolic constraints due to warming. While there was a strong difference in assemblages between mesocosms containing crabs compared to mesocosms without crabs, decreasing crab size had no detectable effect on the amphipod or algal assemblages. This suggests that in allometrically balanced communities, the expected long-term effect of warming (declining body size) is not of similar ecological consequence to the direct physiological effects of warming, at least not over the six week duration of the experiment described here. More research is needed to determine the long-term effects of declining body size on the bioenergetic balance of natural communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J McElroy
- Coastal & Marine Ecosystems Group, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Eoin J O'Gorman
- Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Florian D Schneider
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, CC065, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier Cedex 05, France
| | - Hanne Hetjens
- Department of Environmental Biology, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Prune Le Merrer
- Université d'Avignon et des Pays du Vaucluse, IUT Génie Biologique Option Agronomie, Site Agroparc, BP 1207, 84911, Avignon Cedex 9, France
| | - Ross A Coleman
- Coastal & Marine Ecosystems Group, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Mark Emmerson
- Institute of Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7BL, UK
- Queen's University Marine Laboratory, 12-13, The Strand, Portaferry, BT22 1PF, UK
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James A, Plank MJ, Rossberg AG, Beecham J, Emmerson M, Pitchford JW. Constructing Random Matrices to Represent Real Ecosystems. Am Nat 2015; 185:680-92. [DOI: 10.1086/680496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Woodward G, Brown LE, Edwards FK, Hudson LN, Milner AM, Reuman DC, Ledger ME. Climate change impacts in multispecies systems: drought alters food web size structure in a field experiment. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2013; 367:2990-7. [PMID: 23007087 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Experimental data from intergenerational field manipulations of entire food webs are scarce, yet such approaches are essential for gauging impacts of environmental change in natural systems. We imposed 2 years of intermittent drought on stream channels in a replicated field trial, to measure food web responses to simulated climate change. Drought triggered widespread losses of species and links, with larger taxa and those that were rare for their size, many of which were predatory, being especially vulnerable. Many network properties, including size-scaling relationships within food chains, changed in response to drought. Other properties, such as connectance, were unaffected. These findings highlight the need for detailed experimental data from different organizational levels, from pairwise links to the entire food web. The loss of not only large species, but also those that were rare for their size, provides a newly refined way to gauge likely impacts that may be applied more generally to other systems and/or impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy Woodward
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
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12
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Jochum M, Schneider FD, Crowe TP, Brose U, O'Gorman EJ. Climate-induced changes in bottom-up and top-down processes independently alter a marine ecosystem. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2013; 367:2962-70. [PMID: 23007084 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Climate change has complex structural impacts on coastal ecosystems. Global warming is linked to a widespread decline in body size, whereas increased flood frequency can amplify nutrient enrichment through enhanced run-off. Altered population body-size structure represents a disruption in top-down control, whereas eutrophication embodies a change in bottom-up forcing. These processes are typically studied in isolation and little is known about their potential interactive effects. Here, we present the results of an in situ experiment examining the combined effects of top-down and bottom-up forces on the structure of a coastal marine community. Reduced average body mass of the top predator (the shore crab, Carcinus maenas) and nutrient enrichment combined additively to alter mean community body mass. Nutrient enrichment increased species richness and overall density of organisms. Reduced top-predator body mass increased community biomass. Additionally, we found evidence for an allometrically induced trophic cascade. Here, the reduction in top-predator body mass enabled greater biomass of intermediate fish predators within the mesocosms. This, in turn, suppressed key micrograzers, which led to an overall increase in microalgal biomass. This response highlights the possibility for climate-induced trophic cascades, driven by altered size structure of populations, rather than species extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malte Jochum
- J. F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Berliner Str. 28, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
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Stewart RI, Dossena M, Bohan DA, Jeppesen E, Kordas RL, Ledger ME, Meerhoff M, Moss B, Mulder C, Shurin JB, Suttle B, Thompson R, Trimmer M, Woodward G. Mesocosm Experiments as a Tool for Ecological Climate-Change Research. ADV ECOL RES 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-417199-2.00002-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 176] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
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Tamaddoni-Nezhad A, Milani GA, Raybould A, Muggleton S, Bohan DA. Construction and Validation of Food Webs Using Logic-Based Machine Learning and Text Mining. ADV ECOL RES 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-420002-9.00004-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Habitat Isolation Reduces the Temporal Stability of Island Ecosystems in the Face of Flood Disturbance. ADV ECOL RES 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-417199-2.00004-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
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16
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Jacob U, Woodward G. Preface. ADV ECOL RES 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-396992-7.09986-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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O'Gorman EJ, Pichler DE, Adams G, Benstead JP, Cohen H, Craig N, Cross WF, Demars BO, Friberg N, Gíslason GM, Gudmundsdóttir R, Hawczak A, Hood JM, Hudson LN, Johansson L, Johansson MP, Junker JR, Laurila A, Manson JR, Mavromati E, Nelson D, Ólafsson JS, Perkins DM, Petchey OL, Plebani M, Reuman DC, Rall BC, Stewart R, Thompson MS, Woodward G. Impacts of Warming on the Structure and Functioning of Aquatic Communities. ADV ECOL RES 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-398315-2.00002-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
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Hagen M, Kissling WD, Rasmussen C, De Aguiar MA, Brown LE, Carstensen DW, Alves-Dos-Santos I, Dupont YL, Edwards FK, Genini J, Guimarães PR, Jenkins GB, Jordano P, Kaiser-Bunbury CN, Ledger ME, Maia KP, Marquitti FMD, Mclaughlin Ó, Morellato LPC, O'Gorman EJ, Trøjelsgaard K, Tylianakis JM, Vidal MM, Woodward G, Olesen JM. Biodiversity, Species Interactions and Ecological Networks in a Fragmented World. ADV ECOL RES 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-396992-7.00002-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 236] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
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Twomey M, Jacob U, Emmerson MC. Perturbing a Marine Food Web: Consequences for Food Web Structure and Trivariate Patterns. ADV ECOL RES 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-398315-2.00005-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Mulder C, Boit A, Mori S, Vonk JA, Dyer SD, Faggiano L, Geisen S, González AL, Kaspari M, Lavorel S, Marquet PA, Rossberg AG, Sterner RW, Voigt W, Wall DH. Distributional (In)Congruence of Biodiversity–Ecosystem Functioning. ADV ECOL RES 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-396992-7.00001-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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O'Gorman EJ, Emmerson MC. Body mass-abundance relationships are robust to cascading effects in marine food webs. OIKOS 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18867.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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25
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Yvon-Durocher G, Reiss J, Blanchard J, Ebenman B, Perkins DM, Reuman DC, Thierry A, Woodward G, Petchey OL. Across ecosystem comparisons of size structure: methods, approaches and prospects. OIKOS 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18863.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Brown LE, Edwards FK, Milner AM, Woodward G, Ledger ME. Food web complexity and allometric scaling relationships in stream mesocosms: implications for experimentation. J Anim Ecol 2011; 80:884-95. [PMID: 21418207 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2011.01814.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
1. Mesocosms are used extensively by ecologists to gain a mechanistic understanding of ecosystems based on the often untested assumption that these systems can replicate the key attributes of natural assemblages. 2. Previous investigations of stream mesocosm utility have explored community composition, but here for the first time, we extend the approach to consider the replicability and realism of food webs in four outdoor channels (4 m(2)). 3. The four food webs were similarly complex, consisting of diverse assemblages (61-71 taxa) with dense feeding interactions (directed connectance 0.09-0.11). Mesocosm food web structural attributes were within the range reported for 82 well-characterized food webs from natural streams and rivers. When compared with 112 additional food webs from standing freshwater, marine, estuarine and terrestrial environments, stream food webs (including mesocosms) had similar characteristic path lengths, but typically lower mean food chain length and exponents for the species-link relationship. 4. Body size (M) abundance (N) allometric scaling coefficients for trivariate taxonomic mesocosm food webs (-0.53 to -0.49) and individual size distributions (-0.60 to -0.58) were consistent and similar to those from natural systems, suggesting that patterns of energy flux between mesocosm consumers and resources were realistic approximations. 5. These results suggest that stream mesocosms of this scale can support replicate food webs with a degree of biocomplexity that is comparable to 'natural' streams. The findings highlight the potential value of mesocosms as model systems for performing experimental manipulations to test ecological theories, at spatiotemporal scales of relevance to natural ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee E Brown
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
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Arim M, Berazategui M, Barreneche JM, Ziegler L, Zarucki M, Abades SR. Determinants of Density–Body Size Scaling Within Food Webs and Tools for Their Detection. ADV ECOL RES 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-386475-8.00001-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
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Mulder C, Boit A, Bonkowski M, De Ruiter PC, Mancinelli G, Van der Heijden MG, Van Wijnen HJ, Vonk JA, Rutgers M. A Belowground Perspective on Dutch Agroecosystems: How Soil Organisms Interact to Support Ecosystem Services. ADV ECOL RES 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-374794-5.00005-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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31
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Long-Term Dynamics of a Well-Characterised Food Web. ADV ECOL RES 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-374794-5.00002-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
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32
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Gilljam D, Thierry A, Edwards FK, Figueroa D, Ibbotson AT, Jones JI, Lauridsen RB, Petchey OL, Woodward G, Ebenman B. Seeing Double:. ADV ECOL RES 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-386475-8.00003-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Olesen JM, Dupont YL, O'Gorman E, Ings TC, Layer K, Melián CJ, Trøjelsgaard K, Pichler DE, Rasmussen C, Woodward G. From Broadstone to Zackenberg. ADV ECOL RES 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-381363-3.00001-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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40
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O'Gorman EJ, Emmerson MC. Manipulating Interaction Strengths and the Consequences for Trivariate Patterns in a Marine Food Web. ADV ECOL RES 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-381363-3.00006-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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41
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McLaughlin ÓB, Jonsson T, Emmerson MC. Temporal Variability in Predator–Prey Relationships of a Forest Floor Food Web. ADV ECOL RES 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-381363-3.00004-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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