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Álvarez‐Codesal S, Faillace CA, Garreau A, Bestion E, Synodinos AD, Montoya JM. Thermal mismatches explain consumer-resource dynamics in response to environmental warming. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10179. [PMID: 37325725 PMCID: PMC10264966 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Revised: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Changing temperatures will impact food webs in ways we yet to fully understand. The thermal sensitivities of various physiological and ecological processes differ across organisms and study systems, hindering the generation of accurate predictions. One step towards improving this picture is to acquire a mechanistic understanding of how temperature change impacts trophic interactions before we can scale these insights up to food webs and ecosystems. Here, we implement a mechanistic approach centered on the thermal sensitivity of energetic balances in pairwise consumer-resource interactions, measuring the thermal dependence of energetic gain and loss for two resource and one consumer freshwater species. Quantifying the balance between energy gain and loss, we determined the temperature ranges where the balance decreased for each species in isolation (intraspecific thermal mismatch) and where a mismatch in the balance between consumer and resource species emerged (interspecific thermal mismatch). The latter reveals the temperatures for which consumer and resource energetic balances respond either differently or in the same way, which in turn informs us of the strength of top-down control. We found that warming improved the energetic balance for both resources, but reduces it for the consumer, due to the stronger thermal sensitivity of respiration compared to ingestion. The interspecific thermal mismatch yielded different patterns between the two consumer-resource pairs. In one case, the consumer-resource energetic balance became weaker throughout the temperature gradient, and in the other case it produced a U-shaped response. By also measuring interaction strength for these interaction pairs, we demonstrated the correspondence of interspecific thermal mismatches and interaction strength. Our approach accounts for the energetic traits of both consumer and resource species, which combined produce a good indication of the thermal sensitivity of interaction strength. Thus, this novel approach links thermal ecology with parameters typically explored in food-web studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cara A. Faillace
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology StationCNRSMoulisFrance
- Present address:
Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of PittsburghPittsburghPennsylvaniaUSA
| | | | - Elvire Bestion
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology StationCNRSMoulisFrance
| | | | - José M. Montoya
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology StationCNRSMoulisFrance
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2
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Bomfim FF, Melão MGG, Gebara RC, Lansac-Tôha FA. Warming alters the metabolic rates and life-history parameters of Ceriodaphnia silvestrii (Cladocera). AN ACAD BRAS CIENC 2022; 94:e20200604. [PMID: 35703690 DOI: 10.1590/0001-3765202220200604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Temperature rise has effects on the metabolic process of organisms, population structure, and ecosystem functioning. Here, we tested the effects of warming on the metabolic rates and life-history parameters of the widespread cladoceran Ceriodaphnia silvestrii. Two scenarios of global warming were established, an increase of 2 °C and an increase of 4 °C; the control temperature was 22°C. Our results showed that warming altered C. silvestrii metabolic rates, by increasing the rates of assimilation and secondary production, and decreasing the rates of filtration and ingestion. Warming also increased C. silvestrii fecundity and the body size of neonates and juveniles, and decreased the embryonic and post-embryonic time of development. C. silvestrii might be an important food resource at intermediary temperature as it had higher assimilation rates, even filtering fewer algae. At the highest temperature, we observed a substantial decrease in assimilation and secondary production, which could be a sign of stress starting. The increase in temperature by global warming will affect the cladocerans' metabolic processes and the population survival, even a small increase (2°C) might induce drastic fluctuations in such processes and affect the carbon and energy availability inside aquatic food-webs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francieli F Bomfim
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais (PEA), Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupélia), Av. Colombo, 5790, Campus Universitário, 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
| | - Maria G G Melão
- Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Departamento de Hidrobiologia, Rod. Washington Luís, Km 235, 13565-905 São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Renan C Gebara
- Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Departamento de Hidrobiologia, Rod. Washington Luís, Km 235, 13565-905 São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Fábio A Lansac-Tôha
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais (PEA), Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM), Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupélia), Av. Colombo, 5790, Campus Universitário, 87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brazil
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3
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Grainger TN, Senthilnathan A, Ke PJ, Barbour MA, Jones NT, DeLong JP, Otto SP, O’Connor MI, Coblentz KE, Goel N, Sakarchi J, Szojka MC, Levine JM, Germain RM. An Empiricist’s Guide to Using Ecological Theory. Am Nat 2022; 199:1-20. [DOI: 10.1086/717206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Synodinos AD, Haegeman B, Sentis A, Montoya JM. Theory of temperature-dependent consumer-resource interactions. Ecol Lett 2021; 24:1539-1555. [PMID: 34120390 PMCID: PMC7614043 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Revised: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Changes in temperature affect consumer-resource interactions, which underpin the functioning of ecosystems. However, existing studies report contrasting predictions regarding the impacts of warming on biological rates and community dynamics. To improve prediction accuracy and comparability, we develop an approach that combines sensitivity analysis and aggregate parameters. The former determines which biological parameters impact the community most strongly. The use of aggregate parameters (i.e., maximal energetic efficiency, ρ, and interaction strength, κ), that combine multiple biological parameters, increases explanatory power and reduces the complexity of theoretical analyses. We illustrate the approach using empirically derived thermal dependence curves of biological rates and applying it to consumer-resource biomass ratio and community stability. Based on our analyses, we generate four predictions: (1) resource growth rate regulates biomass distributions at mild temperatures, (2) interaction strength alone determines the thermal boundaries of the community, (3) warming destabilises dynamics at low and mild temperatures only and (4) interactions strength must decrease faster than maximal energetic efficiency for warming to stabilise dynamics. We argue for the potential benefits of directly working with the aggregate parameters to increase the accuracy of predictions on warming impacts on food webs and promote cross-system comparisons.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bart Haegeman
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS, Moulis, France
| | - Arnaud Sentis
- INRAE, Aix Marseille University, UMR RECOVER, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - José M. Montoya
- Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, CNRS, Moulis, France
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5
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Buñuel X, Alcoverro T, Romero J, Arthur R, Ruiz JM, Pérez M, Ontoria Y, Raventós N, Macpherson E, Torrado H, Pagès JF. Warming intensifies the interaction between the temperate seagrass Posidonia oceanica and its dominant fish herbivore Sarpa salpa. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 165:105237. [PMID: 33476979 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2020] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Apart from directly influencing individual life histories of species, climate change is altering key biotic interactions as well, causing community processes to unravel. With rising temperatures, disruptions to producer-consumer relationships can have major knock-on effects, particularly when the producer is a habitat-forming species. We studied how sea surface temperature (SST) modifies multiple pathways influencing the interaction between the foundational seagrass species, Posidonia oceanica, and its main consumer, the fish Sarpa salpa in the Mediterranean Sea. We used a combination of a field-based temperature gradient approaches and experimental manipulations to assess the effect of temperature on seagrass performance (growth) and fish early life history (larval development) as well as on the interaction itself (seagrass palatability and fish foraging activity). Within the range of temperatures assessed, S. salpa larvae grew slightly faster at warmer conditions but maintained their settlement size, resulting in a relatively small reduction in pelagic larval duration (PLD) and potentially reducing dispersion. Under warmer conditions (>24 °C), P. oceanica reduced its growth rate considerably and seemed to display fewer deterring mechanisms as indicated by a disproportionate consumption in choice experiments. However, our field-based observations along the temperature gradient showed no change in fish foraging time, or in other aspects of feeding behaviour. As oceans warm, our results indicate that, while S. salpa may show little change in early life history, its preference towards P. oceanica might increase, which, together with reduced seagrass growth, could considerably intensify the strength of herbivory. It is unclear if P. oceanica meadows can sustain such an intensification, but it will clearly add to the raft of pressures this threatened ecosystem already faces from global and local environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier Buñuel
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Accés a la cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain.
| | - Teresa Alcoverro
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Accés a la cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain; Nature Conservation Foundation, Amritha 1311, 12th Cross, Vijayanagara 1st Stage, Mysore, 570017, India.
| | - Javier Romero
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciencies Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Rohan Arthur
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Accés a la cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain; Nature Conservation Foundation, Amritha 1311, 12th Cross, Vijayanagara 1st Stage, Mysore, 570017, India.
| | - Juan M Ruiz
- Seagrass Ecology Group, Oceanographic Center of Murcia, Spanish Institute of Oceanography, C/ Varadero, 30740, San Pedro del Pinatar, Murcia, Spain.
| | - Marta Pérez
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciencies Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Yaiza Ontoria
- Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciencies Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Núria Raventós
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Accés a la cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain.
| | - Enrique Macpherson
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Accés a la cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain.
| | - Héctor Torrado
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Accés a la cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain; Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística and IRBio, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Jordi F Pagès
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Accés a la cala Sant Francesc 14, 17300, Blanes, Spain; Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciencies Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 643, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
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6
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Uszko W, Diehl S, Wickman J. Fitting functional response surfaces to data: a best practice guide. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Wojciech Uszko
- Integrated Science Lab (IceLab) Department of Ecology and Environmental Science Umeå University Umeå SE‐90187 Sweden
| | - Sebastian Diehl
- Integrated Science Lab (IceLab) Department of Ecology and Environmental Science Umeå University Umeå SE‐90187 Sweden
| | - Jonas Wickman
- Integrated Science Lab (IceLab) Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics Umeå University Umeå SE‐90187 Sweden
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7
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Zhang P, van Leeuwen CHA, Bogers D, Poelman M, Xu J, Bakker ES. Ectothermic omnivores increase herbivory in response to rising temperature. OIKOS 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.07082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Peiyu Zhang
- Dept of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Inst. of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen the Netherlands
- Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, Inst. of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan PR China
| | | | - Dagmar Bogers
- Dept of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Inst. of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen the Netherlands
| | - Marjolein Poelman
- Dept of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Inst. of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen the Netherlands
| | - Jun Xu
- Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, Inst. of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan PR China
- Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology Qingdao PR China
| | - Elisabeth S. Bakker
- Dept of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Inst. of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW) Wageningen the Netherlands
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8
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Uiterwaal SF, Lagerstrom IT, Luhring TM, Salsbery ME, DeLong JP. Trade-offs between morphology and thermal niches mediate adaptation in response to competing selective pressures. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:1368-1377. [PMID: 32076520 PMCID: PMC7029080 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The effects of climate change-such as increased temperature variability and novel predators-rarely happen in isolation, but it is unclear how organisms cope with multiple stressors simultaneously. To explore this, we grew replicate Paramecium caudatum populations in either constant or variable temperatures and exposed half to predation. We then fit thermal performance curves (TPCs) of intrinsic growth rate (r max) for each replicate population (N = 12) across seven temperatures (10°C-38°C). TPCs of P. caudatum exposed to both temperature variability and predation responded only to one or the other (but not both), resulting in unpredictable outcomes. These changes in TPCs were accompanied by changes in cell morphology. Although cell volume was conserved across treatments, cells became narrower in response to temperature variability and rounder in response to predation. Our findings suggest that predation and temperature variability produce conflicting pressures on both thermal performance and cell morphology. Lastly, we found a strong correlation between changes in cell morphology and TPC parameters in response to predation, suggesting that responses to opposing selective pressures could be constrained by trade-offs. Our results shed new light on how environmental and ecological pressures interact to elicit changes in characteristics at both the individual and population levels. We further suggest that morphological responses to interactive environmental forces may modulate population-level responses, making prediction of long-term responses to environmental change challenging.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ian T. Lagerstrom
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Nebraska ‐ LincolnLincolnNEUSA
| | - Thomas M. Luhring
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Nebraska ‐ LincolnLincolnNEUSA
| | | | - John P. DeLong
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of Nebraska ‐ LincolnLincolnNEUSA
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9
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Betini GS, Avgar T, McCann KS, Fryxell JM. Temperature triggers a non‐linear response in resource–consumer interaction strength. Ecosphere 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo S. Betini
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph Ontario N1G 2W1 Canada
| | - Tal Avgar
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph Ontario N1G 2W1 Canada
- Department of Wildland Resources Utah State University Logan Utah 84322 USA
| | - Kevin S. McCann
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph Ontario N1G 2W1 Canada
| | - John M. Fryxell
- Department of Integrative Biology University of Guelph Guelph Ontario N1G 2W1 Canada
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10
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Tseng M, Bernhardt JR, Chila AE. Species interactions mediate thermal evolution. Evol Appl 2019; 12:1463-1474. [PMID: 31417627 PMCID: PMC6691212 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Revised: 03/30/2019] [Accepted: 04/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding whether populations and communities can evolve fast enough to keep up with ongoing climate change is one of the most pressing issues in biology today. A growing number of studies have documented rapid evolutionary responses to warming, suggesting that populations may be able to persist despite temperature increases. The challenge now is to better understand how species interactions, which are ubiquitous in nature, mediate these population responses to warming. Here, we use laboratory natural selection experiments in a freshwater community to test hypotheses related to how thermal evolution of Daphnia pulex to two selection temperatures (12 and 18°C) is mediated by rapid thermal evolution of its algal resource (Scenedesmus obliquus) or by the presence of the zooplankton predator Chaoborus americanus. We found that cold-evolved algae (a high-quality resource) facilitated the evolution of increased thermal plasticity in Daphnia populations selected at 12°C, for both body size and per capita growth rates (r). Conversely, warm-evolved algae facilitated the evolution of increased r thermal plasticity for Daphnia selected at 18°C. Lastly, we found that the effect of selection temperature on evolved Daphnia body size was more pronounced when Daphnia were also reared with predators. These data demonstrate that trait evolution of a focal population to the thermal environment can be affected by both bottom-up and top-down species interactions and that rapid temperature evolution of a resource can have cascading effects on consumer thermal evolution. Our study highlights the importance of incorporating species interactions when estimating ecological and evolutionary responses of populations and communities to ongoing temperature warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Tseng
- Departments of Botany and Zoology, Biodiversity Research CentreUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
| | - Joey R. Bernhardt
- EawagSwiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and TechnologyDübendorfSwitzerland
| | - Alexander E. Chila
- Departments of Botany and Zoology, Biodiversity Research CentreUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
- Present address:
Department of BiologyUniversity of VictoriaVictoriaBritish ColumbiaCanada
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11
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Lemoine NP. Considering the effects of temperature × nutrient interactions on the thermal response curve of carrying capacity. Ecology 2019; 100:e02599. [PMID: 30620393 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2018] [Accepted: 11/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Climate warming will likely destabilize populations or drive consumers locally extinct. These predictions arise from consumer-resource models incorporating temperature-dependent parameters, and the accuracy of these predictions hinges on the validity of temperature scalings for each parameter. Among all parameters, carrying capacity (K) is the most ill-defined and the temperature scaling of this parameter has no empirically verified foundation. Most studies assume that K declines exponentially with warming, but others have assumed a positive or no relationship between K and temperature. Here, I developed a theoretical foundation for a temperature scaling of K based on physiological principles of temperature and nutrient limitation of phytoplankton growth. The trade-off between thermodynamics and nutrient uptake yields a unimodal thermal response curve for K, and this prediction is supported by empirical data on both phytoplankton and insects. Analyses of consumer-resource models demonstrate the primacy of K in determining predictions of coexistence and stability. Since K exerts a dominant influence on model predictions, ecologists should carefully consider the temperature scaling of K for the species and region in question to ensure accurate estimates of population stability and extinction risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan P Lemoine
- Department of Biology and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526, USA
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12
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Passy SI, Larson CA, Jamoneau A, Budnick W, Heino J, Leboucher T, Tison-Rosebery J, Soininen J. Biogeographical Patterns of Species Richness and Abundance Distribution in Stream Diatoms Are Driven by Climate and Water Chemistry. Am Nat 2018; 192:605-617. [DOI: 10.1086/699830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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13
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Bernhardt JR, Sunday JM, O'Connor MI. Metabolic Theory and the Temperature-Size Rule Explain the Temperature Dependence of Population Carrying Capacity. Am Nat 2018; 192:687-697. [PMID: 30444656 DOI: 10.1086/700114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
The temperature dependence of highly conserved subcellular metabolic systems affects ecological patterns and processes across scales, from organisms to ecosystems. Population density at carrying capacity plays an important role in evolutionary processes, biodiversity, and ecosystem function, yet how it varies with temperature-dependent metabolism remains unclear. Though the exponential effect of temperature on intrinsic population growth rate, r, is well known, we still lack clear evidence that population density at carrying capacity, K, declines with increasing per capita metabolic rate, as predicted by the metabolic theory of ecology (MTE). We experimentally tested whether temperature effects on photosynthesis propagate directly to population carrying capacity in a model species, the mobile phytoplankton Tetraselmis tetrahele. After maintaining populations at a fixed resource supply and fixed temperatures for 43 days, we found that carrying capacity declined with increasing temperature. This decline was predicted quantitatively when models included temperature-dependent metabolic rates and temperature-associated body-size shifts. Our results demonstrate that warming reduces carrying capacity and that temperature effects on body size and metabolic rate interact to determine how temperature affects population dynamics. These findings bolster efforts to relate metabolic temperature dependence to population and ecosystem patterns via MTE.
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14
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Fugère V, Mehner T, Chapman LJ. Impacts of deforestation‐induced warming on the metabolism, growth and trophic interactions of an afrotropical stream fish. Funct Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Fugère
- Department of BiologyMcGill University Montreal QC Canada
- Department of Biology and Ecology of FishesLeibniz‐Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries Berlin Germany
| | - Thomas Mehner
- Department of Biology and Ecology of FishesLeibniz‐Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries Berlin Germany
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15
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Schaum CE, Ffrench-Constant R, Lowe C, Ólafsson JS, Padfield D, Yvon-Durocher G. Temperature-driven selection on metabolic traits increases the strength of an algal-grazer interaction in naturally warmed streams. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2018; 24:1793-1803. [PMID: 29281766 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Trophic interactions are important determinants of the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Because the metabolism and consumption rates of ectotherms increase sharply with temperature, there are major concerns that global warming will increase the strength of trophic interactions, destabilizing food webs, and altering ecosystem structure and function. We used geothermally warmed streams that span an 11°C temperature gradient to investigate the interplay between temperature-driven selection on traits related to metabolism and resource acquisition, and the interaction strength between the keystone gastropod grazer, Radix balthica, and a common algal resource. Populations from a warm stream (~28°C) had higher maximal metabolic rates and optimal temperatures than their counterparts from a cold stream (~17°C). We found that metabolic rates of the population originating from the warmer stream were higher across all measurement temperatures. A reciprocal transplant experiment demonstrated that the interaction strengths between the grazer and its algal resource were highest for both populations when transplanted into the warm stream. In line with the thermal dependence of respiration, interaction strengths involving grazers from the warm stream were always higher than those with grazers from the cold stream. These results imply that increases in metabolism and resource consumption mediated by the direct, thermodynamic effects of higher temperatures on physiological rates are not mitigated by metabolic compensation in the long term, and suggest that warming could increase the strength of algal-grazer interactions with likely knock-on effects for the biodiversity and productivity of aquatic ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Elisa Schaum
- Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
- Section Biological Oceanography, Institute for Hydrobiology and Fisheries, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Richard Ffrench-Constant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
| | - Chris Lowe
- Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
| | - Jón S Ólafsson
- Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Daniel Padfield
- Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
| | - Gabriel Yvon-Durocher
- Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
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16
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Zhang P, Grutters BMC, van Leeuwen CHA, Xu J, Petruzzella A, van den Berg RF, Bakker ES. Effects of Rising Temperature on the Growth, Stoichiometry, and Palatability of Aquatic Plants. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2018; 9:1947. [PMID: 30671079 PMCID: PMC6331454 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Global warming is expected to strengthen herbivore-plant interactions leading to enhanced top-down control of plants. However, latitudinal gradients in plant quality as food for herbivores suggest lower palatability at higher temperatures, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. If plant palatability would decline with temperature rise, then this may question the expectation that warming leads to enhanced top-down control. Therefore, experiments that directly test plant palatability and the traits underlying palatability along a temperature gradient are needed. Here we experimentally tested the impact of temperature on aquatic plant growth, plant chemical traits (including stoichiometry) and plant palatability. We cultured three aquatic plant species at three temperatures (15, 20, and 25°C), measured growth parameters, determined chemical traits and performed feeding trial assays using the generalist consumer Lymnaea stagnalis (pond snail). We found that rising temperature significantly increased the growth of all three aquatic plants. Plant nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content significantly decreased, and carbon (C):N and C:P stoichiometry increased as temperature increased, for both Potamogeton lucens and Vallisneria spiralis, but not for Elodea nuttallii. By performing the palatability test, we found that rising temperatures significantly decreased plant palatability in P. lucens, which could be explained by changes in the underlying chemical plant traits. In contrast, the palatability of E. nuttallii and V. spiralis was not affected by temperature. Overall, P. lucens and V. spiralis were always more palatable than E. nuttallii. We conclude that warming generally stimulates aquatic plant growth, whereas the effects on chemical plant traits and plant palatability are species-specific. These results suggest that the outcome of the impact of temperature rise on macrophyte stoichiometry and palatability from single-species studies may not be broadly applicable. In contrast, the plant species tested consistently differed in palatability, regardless of temperature, suggesting that palatability may be more strongly linked to species identity than to intraspecific variation in plant stoichiometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peiyu Zhang
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
- *Correspondence: Peiyu Zhang
| | - Bart M. C. Grutters
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Casper H. A. van Leeuwen
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Jun Xu
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Antonella Petruzzella
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Reinier F. van den Berg
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Elisabeth S. Bakker
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, Netherlands
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17
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Park JS, Post DM. Evolutionary history of Daphnia drives divergence in grazing selectivity and alters temporal community dynamics of producers. Ecol Evol 2017; 8:859-865. [PMID: 29375760 PMCID: PMC5773292 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2017] [Revised: 10/26/2017] [Accepted: 11/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Consumers with different seasonal life histories encounter different communities of producers during specific seasonal phases. If consumers evolve to prefer the producers that they encounter, then consumers may reciprocally influence the temporal composition of producer communities. Here, we study the keystone consumer Daphnia ambigua, whose seasonal life history has diverged due to intraspecific predator divergence across lakes of New England. We ask whether grazing preferences of Daphnia have diverged also and test whether any grazing differences influence temporal composition patterns of producers. We reared clonal populations of Daphnia from natural populations representing the two diverged life history types for multiple generations. We conducted short‐term (24 hr) and long‐term (27 days) grazing experiments in equal polycultures consisting of three diatom and two green algae species, treated with no consumer, Daphnia from lakes with anadromous alewife, or from lakes with landlocked alewife. After 24 hr, life history and grazing preference divergence in Daphnia ambigua drove significant differences in producer composition. However, those differences disappeared at the end of the 27‐day experiment. Our results illustrate that, despite potentially more complex long‐term dynamics, a multitrophic cascade of evolutionary divergence from a predator can influence temporal community dynamics at the producer level.
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Affiliation(s)
- John S Park
- Committee on Evolutionary Biology University of Chicago Chicago IL USA
| | - David M Post
- Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Yale University New Haven CT USA
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18
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Hernán G, Ortega MJ, Gándara AM, Castejón I, Terrados J, Tomas F. Future warmer seas: increased stress and susceptibility to grazing in seedlings of a marine habitat-forming species. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2017; 23:4530-4543. [PMID: 28544549 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2017] [Accepted: 05/05/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Increases in seawater temperature are expected to have negative consequences for marine organisms. Beyond individual effects, species-specific differences in thermal tolerance are predicted to modify species interactions and increase the strength of top-down effects, particularly in plant-herbivore interactions. Shifts in trophic interactions will be especially important when affecting habitat-forming species such as seagrasses, as the consequences on their abundance will cascade throughout the food web. Seagrasses are a major component of coastal ecosystems offering important ecosystem services, but are threatened by multiple anthropogenic stressors, including warming. The mechanistic understanding of seagrass responses to warming at multiple scales of organization remains largely unexplored, especially in early-life stages such as seedlings. Yet, these early-life stages are critical for seagrass expansion processes and adaptation to climate change. In this study, we determined the effects of a 3 month experimental exposure to present and predicted mean summer SST of the Mediterranean Sea (25°C, 27°C, and 29°C) on the photophysiology, size, and ecology (i.e., plant-herbivore interactions) of seedlings of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica. Warming resulted in increased mortality, leaf necrosis, and respiration as well as lower carbohydrate reserves in the seed, the main storage organ in seedlings. Aboveground biomass and root growth were also limited with warming, which could hamper seedling establishment success. Furthermore, warming increased the susceptibility to consumption by grazers, likely due to lower leaf fiber content and thickness. Our results indicate that warming will negatively affect seagrass seedlings through multiple direct and indirect pathways: increased stress, reduced establishment potential, lower storage of carbohydrate reserves, and increased susceptibly to consumption. This work provides a significant step forward in understanding the major mechanisms that will drive the capacity of seagrass seedlings to adapt and survive to warming, highlighting the potential additive effects that herbivory will have on ultimately determining seedling success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gema Hernán
- Departament of Ecology and Marine Resources, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Spain
| | - María J Ortega
- Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain
| | - Alberto M Gándara
- Departament of Ecology and Marine Resources, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Spain
- Department of Molecular Biology, Grigore Antipa National Museum of Natural History, Bucharest, Romania
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Inés Castejón
- Departament of Ecology and Marine Resources, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Spain
| | - Jorge Terrados
- Departament of Ecology and Marine Resources, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Spain
| | - Fiona Tomas
- Departament of Ecology and Marine Resources, IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Esporles, Spain
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
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19
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Finstad AG, Nilsen EB, Hendrichsen DK, Schmidt NM. Catchment vegetation and temperature mediating trophic interactions and production in plankton communities. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0174904. [PMID: 28414736 PMCID: PMC5393547 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2016] [Accepted: 03/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Climatic factors influence the interactions among trophic levels in an ecosystem in multiple ways. However, whereas most studies focus on single factors in isolation, mainly due to interrelation and correlation among drivers complicating interpretation and analyses, there are still only few studies on how multiple ecosystems respond to climate related factors at the same time. Here, we use a hierarchical Bayesian model with a bioenergetic predator-prey framework to study how different climatic factors affect trophic interactions and production in small Arctic lakes. Natural variation in temperature and catchment land-cover was used as a natural experiment to exemplify how interactions between and production of primary producers (phytoplankton) and grazers (zooplankton) are driven by direct (temperature) and indirect (catchment vegetation) factors, as well as the presence or absence of apex predators (fish). The results show that increased vegetation cover increased phytoplankton growth rate by mediating lake nutrient concentration. At the same time, increased temperature also increased grazing rates by zooplankton. Presence of fish increased zooplankton mortality rates, thus reducing grazing. The Arctic is currently experiencing an increase in both temperature and shrub vegetation cover due to climate change, a trend, which is likely to continue. Our results point towards a possible future general weakening of zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton and greening of arctic lakes with increasing temperatures. At the same time, the impact of the presence of an apex predator indicate considerable local variation in the response. This makes direction and strength of global change impacts difficult to forecast.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anders G. Finstad
- Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Department of Natural History, NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway
- * E-mail:
| | | | | | - Niels Martin Schmidt
- Arctic Research Centre, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
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20
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Betini GS, Roszell J, Heyland A, Fryxell JM. Calcium interacts with temperature to influence Daphnia movement rates. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160537. [PMID: 28083097 PMCID: PMC5210679 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2016] [Accepted: 11/04/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Predicting the ecological responses to climate change is particularly challenging, because organisms might be affected simultaneously by the synergistic effects of multiple environmental stressors. Global warming is often accompanied by declining calcium concentration in many freshwater ecosystems. Although there is growing evidence that these changes in water chemistry and thermal conditions can influence ecosystem dynamics, little information is currently available about how these synergistic environmental stressors could influence the behaviour of aquatic organisms. Here, we tested whether the combined effects of calcium and temperature affect movement parameters (average speed, mean turning frequency and mean-squared displacement) of the planktonic Daphnia magna, using a full factorial design and exposing Daphnia individuals to a range of realistic levels of temperature and calcium concentration. We found that movement increased with both temperature and calcium concentration, but temperature effects became considerably weaker when individuals were exposed to calcium levels close to survival limits documented for several Daphnia species, signalling a strong interaction effect. These results support the notion that changes in water chemistry might have as strong an effect as projected changes in temperature on movement rates of Daphnia, suggesting that even sublethal levels of calcium decline could have a considerable impact on the dynamics of freshwater ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo S. Betini
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, CanadaN1G 2W1
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21
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West DC, Post DM. Impacts of warming revealed by linking resource growth rates with consumer functional responses. J Anim Ecol 2016; 85:671-80. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2014] [Accepted: 11/26/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Derek C. West
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Yale University 165 Prospect St New Haven CT 06511 USA
| | - David M. Post
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Yale University 165 Prospect St New Haven CT 06511 USA
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