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108 results for “trophic effects”
Fig. 1 in Ecomorphological patterns of the fish assemblage in a tropical floodplain: effects of trophic, spatial and phylogenetic structures
Fig. 1. Study area with sampling stations in the upper Paraná River floodplain: rivers: Paraná (1), Baía (2) and Ivinheima (3); channels: Cortado (4), Curutuba (5) and Ipoitã (6); connected lagoons: Garças (7), Guaraná (8) and Finado Raimundo (9); disconnected lagoons: Fechada (10), Ventura (11) and Zé do Paco (12).
Effects of temporal abiotic drivers on the dynamics of an allometric trophic network model
<p>Current ecological research and ecosystem management call for improved understanding of the abiotic drivers of community dynamics, including temperature effects on species interactions and biomass accumulation. Allometric trophic network (ATN) models, which simulate material (carbon) transfer in trophic networks from producers to consumers based on mass-specific metabolic rates, provide an attractive framework to study consumer-resource interactions from organisms to ecosystems. However, the developed ATN models rarely consider temporal changes in some key abiotic drivers that affect e.g. consumer metabolism and producer growth. Here, we evaluate how temporal changes in carrying capacity and light-dependent growth rate of producers and in temperature-dependent mass-specific metabolic rate of consumers affect ATN model dynamics, namely seasonal biomass accumulation, productivity and standing stock biomass of different trophic guilds, including age-structured fish communities. Our simulations of the pelagic Lake Constance (LC) food web indicated marked effects of temporally changing abiotic parameters on seasonal biomass accumulation of different guild groups, particularly among the lowest trophic levels (primary producers and invertebrates). While the adjustment of average irradiance had a minor effect, increasing metabolic rate associated with 1–2˚C temperature increase led to a marked decline of larval (0-year age) fish biomass, but to a substantial biomass increase of 2- and 3-year-old fish that were not predated by ≥4-year-old top predator fish, European perch. However, when averaged across the 100 simulation years, the inclusion of seasonality in abiotic drivers caused only minor changes in standing stock biomasses and productivity of different trophic guilds. Our results demonstrate the potential of introducing seasonality in and adjusting the average values of abiotic ATN model parameters to simulate temporal fluctuations in food-web dynamics, which is an important step in ATN model development aiming to e.g. assess potential future community-level responses to ongoing environmental changes.</p>
Effects of temporal abiotic drivers on the dynamics of an allometric trophic network model
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Destabilizing effects on a classic tri-trophic oyster-reef cascade
<p>How interactions among multiple predators affect the stability of trophic cascades is a topic of special ecological interest. To examine factors affecting the stability of the classic tri-trophic oyster reef cascade within a different context, configurations of three predators, including the Gulf toadfish, Gulf stone crab, and oystershell mud crab, were manipulated together with either oyster shell or limestone gravel substrate within a multiple predator effects (MPE) experiment. Additionally, a complimentary set of trait-mediated-indirect interaction (TMII) experiments examined the inhibition of oyster consumption relative to mud-crab size and top predator identity in the absence of other cues and factors. The classic tri-trophic cascade formed by the toadfish-mud crab-oyster configuration was potentially weakened by several interactions within the MPE experiment. Consumption of oysters and mud crabs by the intraguild stone crab was undeterred by the presence of toadfish. Although mud crab feeding was inhibited in the presence of both toadfish and stone crabs, estimated non-consumptive effects (NCEs) were weaker for stone crabs in the MPE experiment. Consequently, the total effect was destabilizing when all three predator species were together. Inhibition of mud crab feeding was inversely related to direct predation on mud crabs within the MPE experiment. Complimentary TMII experiments revealed greater inhibition of mud crab feeding in response to stone crabs under sparse conditions. TMII experiments also implied that inhibition of mud crab feeding could have largely accounted for NCEs relative to oysters within the MPE experiment, as opposed to interference by other mud crabs or top predators. An inverse relationship between mud crab size and NCE strength in the TMII experiment disclosed another potentially destabilizing influence on the tri-trophic-cascade. Finally, although habitat complexity generally dampened the consumption of oysters across MPE treatments, complex habitat promoted mud crab feeding in the presence of toadfish alone. This study underscores how ecological interactions can mediate trophic cascades and provides some additional insights into the trophic dynamics of oyster reefs for further testing under natural conditions.</p>
Data from: Cascading effects of a top predator on intraspecific competition at intermediate and basal trophic levels
1. Predators can impact competition among prey by altering prey density via consumption or by causing prey to modify their traits or foraging behavior. Yet, differences between these two mechanisms may lead to different cascading impacts on lower trophic levels. 2. Using a crab-snail-barnacle rocky intertidal food chain, we tested the effects of predation risk from crabs (top predators) on intraspecific competition among snails (intermediate consumers) and emergent indirect effects on the density of and competition between barnacles (basal resources). 3. The per capita foraging and growth rates of snails declined with high conspecific density. Predation risk from crabs, which caused even larger reductions in snail foraging and growth, weakened competition among snails, whereas a 45% increase in barnacle density had no detectable effect on snail competition. 4. Intraspecific competition between barnacles, however, depended on the interactive effects of barnacle density, snail density, and crab predation risk. Barnacles developed hummocking morphologies as they grew and competed for space. Hummock formation (a proxy for competition) increased as a result of either greater initial barnacle density or reduced snail foraging pressure, but these effects depended on predation risk. 5. The effects of crab predation risk on snail foraging behavior weakened an otherwise strong relationship between barnacle density and hummock development: hummocking increased with barnacle density in the absence of crabs but remained relatively high when crabs were present. In communities with similar final barnacle densities, hummocking was more common in those with crabs than those without crabs. 6. The extent to which predators can drive trophic cascades by suppressing the foraging rates of their prey is highly context-dependent: the positive trait-mediated indirect effect of predators on basal resource abundance is stronger when many prey respond simultaneously to the threat of predation. However, our results demonstrate that top predators can also enhance competition among basal resources even when their indirect effect on resource abundance is relatively weak. Hence, the cascading effects of predators on competition within lower trophic levels may play an important but underappreciated role in the dynamics of basal resource populations and the communities they support.
Data from: Effects of a trophic cascade on a multi-level facilitation cascade
<p>1. The role of cascades in natural communities has been extensively studied, but interactions between trophic and facilitation cascades are unexplored. In the White Sea (65° N) shallow subtidal bivalve primary facilitators provide hard substrate for secondary facilitator barnacles, that in turn provide substrate for conspecifics, ascidians, red algae, and multiple associated organisms, composing a multi-level facilitation cascade. Previous research revealed that predation by the whelk (Boreotrophon clathratus) accounts for ~7% of adult barnacle mortality. Low whelk abundance limits their effect, with barnacles living on conspecifics several times more vulnerable to predation than those living on primary substrate.</p> <p>2. Trophic cascades can selectively shield foundation species from consumers, and hence may affect the structure and length of facilitation cascades. We tested the hypothesis that low abundance of the whelks results from mesopredator predation on their juveniles. Depending on the magnitude of the effect, this would mean that a trophic cascade controls the abundance of barnacles on all substrates or only barnacles living on conspecifics. We also suggested that barnacles on primary substrates and conspecifics facilitate different dependent assemblages.</p> <p>3. We manipulated the presence of crab and shrimp mesopredators in field caging experiments to assess their effect on whelk recruitment. In a field survey we compared the assemblages of sessile macrobenthic organisms associated with barnacles living on different substrates.</p> <p>4. Caging experiments evidenced that crab and shrimp mesopredators reduce whelk recruitment by 4.6 times. Field data showed that barnacles on primary substrate and on conspecifics promote different dependent assemblages including secondary facilitator ascidians.</p> <p>5. Although mesopredators do not shield barnacles from elimination, their absence would restrict them from living on conspecifics. Barnacles on conspecifics are functially different from barnacles on primary substrate, and can be concidered a separate level of the facilitation cascade. Trophic cascades thus can generate community-wide effects on facilitation cascades by affecting their structure and possibly length.</p>
Contrasting Effects of Heat Pulses of Different Trophic Levels
<p>Data used for publication of "Contrasting Effects of Heat Pulses of Different Trophic Levels, an Experiment with a Herbivore-Parasitoid Model System". Data in sheet "Data", metadata in sheet "Legend".</p>
Light spectrum matters: Interactive effects of light and nutrients on phytoplankton communities and trophic transfer
<p>Phytoplankton is highly sensitive to both the quantity (intensity) and quality (spectrum) of available light, due to a large range of light-absorbing pigments. While light is considered as a main driver for trophic energy transfer, focus has been primarily on the intensity of light. This study investigated the role of different light spectra on the community structure and biochemical composition of natural phytoplankton. We found that light spectrum affects the species composition and biochemistry of phytoplankton communities with these effects being highly dependent on light intensity and nutrients. Additionally, we tested for potential nutritional constraints for the zooplankton species <em>Daphnia pulex</em> in response to changes in the phytoplankton community and found different growth responses of <em>D. pulex</em> as a result of changing mineral and biochemical growth contraints for the <em>Daphnia</em> species. We conclude that, beyond nutrients and light intensity, also the light spectrum influences plankton dynamics and trophic transfer in aquatic systems.</p>
Body size and trophic levels explain global asymmetric response of tetrapod diversity to climate effects
<p><span>Although c</span><span>limate-based hypotheses are widely used to explain large-scale diversity patterns, they fall short of explaining the spatial variation among taxonomic groups. Integrating food web and metabolic theories into macroecology is a promising step forward, as they allow including explicit taxon-specific traits that can potentially mediate the relationship between climate and diversity. Our investigation focuses on the role of body size and trophic structure in mediating the influence of contemporary climate and historical climate change on global tetrapods species richness. We used piecewise structural equation modeling to assess the direct effects of contemporary climate and climate instability of species richness and the indirect effects of climate on tetrapod richness mediated by community-wide species traits. We found that birds and mammals are less sensitive to the direct effect of contemporary climate than amphibians and squamates. Contemporary climate and climate instability favored the species richness in mammals and amphibians. However, for birds and squamates, this link is only associated with contemporary climate. Moreover, we demonstrated that community-wide traits favored the species richness gradients of tetrapod groups, except amphibians, but this link depends on traits and taxonomic groups. Specifically, bird communities with smaller bodies and bottom-heavy structures support higher species richness. Squamates also tend to be more diverse in communities with prevalence of smaller bodies, while mammals are correlated with top-heavy structures. Moreover, we show that higher contemporary climate and climate instability reduce the species richness of birds and mammals through community-wide traits and tend indirectly improve squamate species richness. Thus, we showed the significance of body size and trophic structure effect in driving a global asymmetric response of tetrapod diversity to climate effects highlights the limitations of applying "typical" climate-based hypotheses. Furthermore, by combining multiple theories, our research contributes to a more realistic and mechanistic understanding of diversity patterns across taxonomic groups. </span></p>
Data and code for: The role of indirect interspecific effects in the stochastic dynamics of a simple trophic system
<p>Understanding indirect interspecific effects (IIEs) on population dynamics is key for predicting community dynamics. Yet, empirically teasing apart IIEs from other interactions and population drivers is data-demanding. We used stochastic population models parameterized with long-term vital rate time series to simulate population trajectories and examine IIEs in a high-arctic vertebrate trophic chain: Svalbard reindeer, its scavenger (Arctic fox), and a migratory fox prey (barnacle goose). Reindeer carcass supply shaped fox abundance fluctuations, subsequently affecting goose fluctuations. Yet reindeer and goose population growth rates were only weakly correlated, probably due to stochasticity, density dependence, and life history traits. However, by isolating the effects of individual processes within our simulation model, we demonstrate the presence of strong IIEs on goose population fluctuations and extinction probability. Thus, we highlight the long-term impact of species interactions, including IIEs, on species coexistence and communities, beyond immediate effects and short-term fluctuations.</p>
Dataset: Testing for effects of growth rate on isotope trophic discrimination factors and evaluating the performance of Bayesian stable isotope mixing models experimentally: a moment of truth?
<p><span>Discerning assimilated diets of wild animals using stable isotopes is well established where potential dietary items in food webs are isotopically distinct. With the advent of mixing models, and Bayesian extensions of such models (Bayesian Stable Isotope Mixing Models, BSIMMs), statistical techniques available for these efforts have been rapidly increasing. The accuracy with which BSIMMs quantify diet, however, depends on several factors including uncertainty in tissue discrimination factors (TDFs; <em>Δ</em>) and identification of appropriate error structures. Whereas performance of BSIMMs has mostly been evaluated with simulations, here we test the efficacy of BSIMMs by raising domestic broiler chicks (<em>Gallus gallus domesticus</em>) on four isotopically distinct diets under controlled environmental conditions, ideal for evaluating factors that affect TDFs and testing how BSIMMs allocate individual birds to diets that vary in isotopic similarity. For both liver and feather tissues,<em> δ</em><sup>13</sup>C and <em>δ </em><sup>15</sup>N values differed among dietary groups. <em>Δ</em><sup>13</sup>C of liver, but not feather, was negatively related to the rate at which individuals gained body mass. For <em>Δ</em><sup>15</sup>N, we identified effects of dietary group, sex, and tissue type, as well as an interaction between sex and tissue type</span><span><span>, </span></span><span><span>with f</span></span><span>emales having higher liver <em>Δ</em><sup>15</sup>N relative to males. For both tissues, BSIMMs allocated most chicks to correct dietary groups, especially for models using combined TDFs rather than diet specific TDFs, and those applying a multiplicative error structure. These findings provide new information on how biological processes affect TDFs and confirm that adequately accounting for variability in consumer isotopes is necessary to optimize performance of BSIMMs. Moreover, they demonstrate experimentally that these types of models reliably characterize consumed diets when appropriately parameterized.<span> </span></span></p>
Trophic rewilding benefits a tropical community through direct and indirect network effects
Species reintroductions can be used as a conservation strategy to restore ecological interactions and the functionality of impoverished ecosystems. The ecological effects of reintroductions go beyond restoring pairwise interactions, because reintroductions can change how extant species are indirectly linked to each other in an ecological community. These indirect pathways, in turn, may shape a myriad of ecological and evolutionary processes operating in ecological systems. Here, we investigated how reintroductions may affect the direct and indirect pathways connecting species in ecological networks. We modeled the potential effects of the reintroduction of four frugivore species (channel-billed toucans, red-humped agoutis, brown howler monkeys and yellow-footed tortoises) to the local seed dispersal network in an Atlantic Forest site, the Tijuca National Park (Tijuca, Brazil). We used a seed dispersal interaction dataset together with data on species occurrences in Tijuca to build network models. Then, we calculated how network structure and the total amount of indirect effects varied across simulated networks with and without the reintroduced species. Using random reintroduction simulations, we tested if the observed network changes were expected merely from the increase in species richness. The reintroduction of the frugivore species increased network connectance, nestedness, robustness, number of pathways and total amount of indirect effects in all simulated networks. The increase in number of pathways with the addition of the four reintroduced species was greater than the sum of isolated effects for each species, as some interaction pathways contained several reintroduced species. These changes in network metrics were significantly greater than if a randomly chosen set of four species were reintroduced. Furthermore, our results indicate that multiple reintroductions in the same area, known as refaunation, may have an even greater restoration effect than single species reintroductions through increased indirect connections in the network.
Prey naiveté alters the balance of consumptive and non-consumptive predator effects and shapes trophic cascades in freshwater plankton
<p><span>Predators drive trophic cascades by reducing prey biomass and altering prey traits, selecting for prey that exhibit constitutive and induced anti-predator defenses that decrease susceptibility to consumption. These defense traits are often costly, generating a tradeoff between consumptive (CEs) and non-consumptive predator effects (NCEs). The ecological and evolutionary experience that prey share with a given predator may determine their position along this tradeoff curve, affecting the nature and strength of top-down control of ecosystems. Conceptual models predict that predator-experienced prey suffer greater NCEs than predator-naive prey, which suffer stronger CEs and total predator effects (CEs + NCEs), but this has not been tested in diverse prey communities. We tested these predictions by comparing the effects of predation (CEs + NCEs) and predation risk (NCEs only) of planktivorous fish on food web structure in pond mesocosms with diverse natural communities of either predator-naive or predator-experienced zooplankton. Contrary to expectations, top-down control of zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass was strengthened by prey community experience: in systems with experienced relative to naive zooplankton communities both predation risk (NCEs only) and predation (CEs + NCEs) had stronger effects on zooplankton prey biomass and trophic cascades were twice as strong. These results show that the ecological and evolutionary experience of diverse prey communities alters the balance of consumptive and non-consumptive predator effects and influences trophic cascade strength.</span></p>
Bottom-up effects of plant quantity and quality on arthropod diversity across multiple trophic levels in a semi-arid grassland
<p><span>1. </span><span>Plant quantity and quality can independently affect the diversity of the entire arthropod communities and multiple arthropod taxa in grassland ecosystems. However, it remains unclear how these effects on arthropod taxa at one trophic level propagate through food web to influence the diversity of higher trophic levels.</span></p> <p><span>2. </span><span>We performed a monoculture experiment with 15 herbaceous species in the Inner Mongolian grassland to investigate how natural variations in plant productivity and host leaf traits affect herbivore taxon richness, which in turn affects predator taxon richness.</span></p> <p><span>3. </span><span>For herbivores, plant productivity indirectly promoted herbivore taxon richness by increasing herbivore biomass, which was attributed to the increases in the richness of dominant sucking herbivores and endophytes</span> <span>with high food requirements. However, the high plant quality indicator (e.g. high leaf protein, phosphorus and water contents, and high leaf protein to carbohydrate ratio) directly increased, whereas the low plant quality indicator (e.g. high leaf lignin content) directly decreased herbivore taxon richness. Taxon richness of chewing and sucking herbivores with specific feeding modes (tearing or sucking mouthparts) showed strong positive responses to increas</span><span>ing</span><span> plant quality.</span></p> <p><span>4. </span><span>For predators, herbivore taxon richness, rather than herbivore biomass, mainly mediated the positive effects of plant productivity and the high plant quality indicator, but the negative effect of the low plant quality indicator, on predator taxon richness. At the feeding guild level, the taxon richness of parasitoids, other predators and spiders exhibited positive responses to different herbivores, which was attributed to their different diet preferences. Predator diversity could be promoted by prey partitioning among predator guilds facilitating species coexistence. At the family level, the taxon richness of most predator families was positively correlated with that of more than one herbivore family, suggesting that high predator diversity may </span><span>be caused by balanced diets owing to high prey diversity.</span></p> <p><span>5. Synthesis</span><span>.</span><span> Natural variations in plant quantity and quality can substantially affect the diversity of herbivores and cascade up the food web to affect predators. Specificity and mechanisms of feeding have a large impact on the responses of arthropod guilds at each trophic level.</span></p>
Data from: Direct and indirect effects of landscape and field management intensity on carabids through trophic resources and weeds
<p>Carabids are important biological control agents of weeds and other pests in agricultural fields. The carabid community is built upon direct and indirect ecological effects of landscape complexity, field management intensity and biotic components that in interaction make any prediction of community size and composition challenging.</p> <p>We analyse a large-scale sample of 60 European cereal fields using Structural Equation Modelling to quantify the direct effects of field management intensity and the surrounding landscape, and their indirect effect via biotic components, on carabid diversity.</p> <p>Our results highlight that direct and indirect effects of increasing landscape complexity, mediated by trophic resources, mainly affect carabids positively. Field management intensity only ever affects carabids through indirect effects that are generally negative, by suppressing standing weeds and weed seeds.</p> <p>Indirect effects on granivore carabid species depended on weed seed availability whereas omnivores depended on the availability of both weed seeds and animal prey.</p> <p><i>Synthesis and applications</i><span>: A consideration of both the direct and indirect effects of landscape and field management is necessary for predicting carabid communities and with interactions. These effects, mediated via trophic resources, supports the diversity and abundance of carabid communities and their provision of ecosystem services. Our results show that promoting crop diversity and connectivity to semi-natural habitats will directly enhance carabid communities in farmland by manipulating their migration from source habitats. A reduction in field management intensity will preserve local standing weeds and weed seeds, and indirectly support carabid communities. These local and landscape modifications could contribute to improve the natural regulation of pests and weeds by carabids.</span></p>
The effects of human population density on trophic interactions are contingent upon latitude
<p><em>Aim: </em>Studies conducted at a global scale are necessary to make general conclusions on the effect of urbanization on trophic interactions and explore how these effects change along latitudinal gradients. Since biotic interactions are more intense at lower latitudes, we predict they are less likely to be affected by human impacts than at higher latitudes. Therefore, we test the hypothesis that the effect of urbanization (quantified by human population density) on trophic interactions, specifically insect herbivory and bird predation, decreases with an increase in latitude</p> <p><em>Location: </em>Global (881 study sties)</p> <p><em>Time period</em>: 2000-2021</p> <p><em>Major taxa studied:</em> Birds, arthropods and plants.</p> <p><em>Methods:</em> We compiled global data on insect herbivory and bird predation from individual studies using similar methodologies, and fitted generalized linear mixed models to test the effect of human population density, latitude and their interaction on these two response variables.</p> <p><em>Results: </em>The intensity of herbivory and predation decreased with the increase of human population density at lower latitudes, remained unaffected at intermediate latitudes, and increased at higher latitudes.</p> <p><em>Main conclusions: </em>The effect of urbanization on the intensities of trophic interactions varies across latitudes, with a reversal of the pattern at high vs. low latitudes potentially explained by the urban heat island effect, being this pattern consistent across the two main trophic interaction.</p>
Empirical measurements of ammonium excretion in kelp forest fishes: Effects of body size, taxonomy and trophic guild
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Destabilizing effects on a classic tri-trophic oyster-reef cascade
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Dissolved organic carbon enhances terrestrial carbon pathways with limited effects on freshwater fish trophic position
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Data from: Hidden role of trophic cascade effects for soil carbon sequestration in alpine tundra
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