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451 results for “food webs”
Data for: Unprecedented shift in Canadian High Arctic polar bear food web unsettles four millennia of stability
<p><span>Stable carbon (δ<sup>13</sup>C) and nitrogen (δ<sup>15</sup>N) isotope analysis was conducted on modern and archaeological polar bear bone collagen from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to investigate potential changes in polar bear foraging ecology over four millennia. Polar bear </span><span>δ<sup>13</sup>C</span><span> values showed a significant decline in the modern samples relative to all archaeological time-bins, indicating a disruption in the sources of production that support the food web, occurring after the Industrial Revolution. The trophic structure, indicated through </span><span>δ<sup>15</sup>N</span><span>, remained unaltered throughout all time periods. The lower </span><span>δ<sup>13</sup>C</span><span> observed in the modern samples indicates a change in the relative importance of pelagic (supported by open-water phytoplankton) over sympagic (supported by sea ice-associated algae) primary production. The consistency in polar bear </span><span>δ<sup>13</sup>C</span><span> through the late Holocene includes climatic shifts such as the Medieval Warm Period (MWP, A.D. 950–1250) and the early stages of the Little Ice Age (LIA, A.D. 1300–1850). These findings suggest that polar bears inhabit a food web that is more pelagic and less sympagic today than it was through the Late Holocene. We suggest that modern, anthropogenic warming has already affected food web structure in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago when modern data are contextualized with a deep time perspective.</span></p>
Nonnative fish facilitate nonnative snails and alter food web structure in experimental pond communities
<p>1. Contemporary ecosystems commonly support multiple nonnative species, which can alter community structure and interact with one another directly and indirectly. Novel interactions between invasive species can result in the facilitation or suppression of one or both invaders, making it important to understand the underlying mechanisms that affect invasion outcomes. </p> <p>2. Goldfish (<em>Carassius</em> <em>auratus</em>) and Chinese mystery snails (<em>Cipangopaludina</em> <em>chinensis</em>) are freshwater species that have been introduced widely through the aquarium trade and co-occur in their nonnative ranges. We used an outdoor mesocosm experiment to assess separate and combined effects of goldfish and mystery snails on pond community structure and to investigate whether goldfish and mystery snails affected one another positively, neutrally, or negatively. We predicted that the distinct trophic levels of each species and the anti-predator traits of mystery snails would lead to positive interactions between invaders and synergistic effects on the aquatic community. </p> <p>3. Goldfish directly increased turbidity and decreased floating filamentous algae, zooplankton, juvenile native snails, and survival of amphibians via consumptive effects. Goldfish indirectly increased attached periphyton, phytoplankton, and body size of surviving native green frogs (<em>Lithobates</em> <em>clamitans</em>) through trophic cascades and/or release from competition. Mystery snails had more subtle effects, including reducing growth rates of native gray tree frogs (<em>Hyla</em> <em>versicolor</em>), likely through competitive interactions. </p> <p>4. With goldfish present, mystery snails showed increased reproductive success (higher total biomass of juveniles), likely due to indirect competitive release from other herbivores. In contrast to their effects on native snails, goldfish did not consume juvenile mystery snails, likely due to their unique traits (e.g., large size and shell thickness). Mystery snails slightly reduced goldfish growth but did not affect their survival. </p> <p>5. These results suggest unidirectional facilitation between invaders via indirect changes in the food web. Overall, our study found strong direct and indirect effects of invasive aquarium species, particularly goldfish, and provides experimental support for the invasional meltdown hypothesis within urban waterbodies, which are especially prone to invasions.</p>
Foraging preferences and interspecific competition generate multimodal complexity-stability relationships in an adaptive food-web framework
<p><span>Ecological theory predicts that complex ecological networks are unstable and are unlikely to persist, despite many empirical studies of such complexity in nature. To resolve real complexity-stability relationships, coupling population dynamics and trait dynamics is considered to be an important way to understand the long-term stability of ecological community assemblages. However, modelling eco-evolutionary dynamics in ecologically realistic networks is still a challenge. Here, we establish an adaptive food web model to evaluate the complexity-stability debate in a mutualist-exploiters-specialist forager-generalist forager system. Our theoretical model predicts that the connectance-stability relationship may show positive monotonic (/), negative monotonic (\), peaked (∩) and double-peaked (oscillatory) patterns. Moreover, the double-peaked pattern is only obtained when both the adaptation intensity and interspecific competition are high, which may explain no complexity-stability relationships revealed in empirical data. Finally, we deduce that foraging adaptation alters positive and/or negative feedback loops to affect the stability of real food webs.</span></p>
Data for: "Land-use intensity influences European tetrapod food-webs"
<p>These .Rdata files enable to reproduce results from our article " Signatures of land use intensity on european tetrapod food-web architectures" along with the R code provided at: https://github.com/ChrisBotella/foodwebs_vs_land_use</p> <p>- raw_data : Raw data including GBIF and iNaturalist occurrences and IUCN enveloppes used to select sites and generate species presence/absence. We provide this file for transparency and reproducibility of our methodology.</p> <p>- preprocessed_data: preprocessed data (obtained from raw_data) used to generate our article Figures along with the next file.</p> <p>- TrophicNetworksList : .Rdata containing a list of igraph objects, each igraph is a foodweb associated to a site identify by the list element name. </p> <p>- MultiRegMatrices: .Rdata containing especially the pre-computed matrix Y of cells (rows) by food web metrics (columns) and the covariate design matrix X (for the linear regressions) in order to facilitate and accelerate the reproduction of the analyses.</p>
Data from: Long-term grazing intensity by reindeer alters the response of the soil micro-food web to simulated climate change in subarctic tundra
<p><span>Top-down control by nematodes over soil microorganisms – considered stronger over bacteria than fungi - may dampen microbial responses to global changes in tundra. To test whether large grazers alter the responses of belowground trophic networks to global changes, we employed factorial warming and nitrogen fertilization treatments in adjacent sites with different reindeer grazing intensities for the past 50 years. Lightly grazed tundra is dominated by dwarf shrubs and a more fungal-based microbial community, while in heavily grazed tundra, high reindeer densities during autumn migration have induced shift into graminoids and more bacterial-based microbial community. We analysed the soil micro-food web, <em>i.e.</em>, the nematode density, trophic structure, and species composition as well as fungal, bacterial and total phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) after four growing seasons of warming and fertilization both before and during reindeer migration. We predicted that bacterivore densities are higher and fungivore densities lower under heavy than light grazing (<em>i.e.</em>, nematode populations before migration reflect grazing effects via the base of food web), whereas reindeer migration induces negative impact on nematode densities under heavy grazing (<em>i.e</em>., disturbance by trampling is the driving factor). We further predicted that nematodes negate treatment effects on microbial biomass to a stronger extent in the bacterial-based heavily grazed than the fungal-based lightly grazed tundra. Fungivore densities were higher under light than heavy grazing, but nematodes did not respond to trampling. Warming increased fungivores and the fungal PLFAs irrespective of grazing and timing, but under heavy grazing, increased bacterivores while the bacterial PLFAs remained steady. Fertilization increased carnivores and influenced nematode species composition, diversity and maturity interactively with warming. Our data suggest that large grazers affect tundra soil nematodes via bottom-up effects through microbial community composition and biomass, which in turn may alter the strength of their top-down control soil bacteria under climate warming. </span></p>
Short-term effects of wildfire on high elevation stream-riparian food webs
<p>Understanding how wildfires affect food web structure and function remains an important challenge, especially at high elevations that historically have burned infrequently. In particular, fires may alter the magnitude of reciprocal cross-ecosystem subsidies, leading to indirect effects on aquatic and terrestrial consumers. We quantified characteristics of high-elevation (2500 to 3000 m) stream-riparian food webs at 10 locations in the southern Rocky Mountains less than one year following high-intensity, stand-replacing wildfires. Using a paired 'burned-unburned' stream survey design, we assessed benthic periphyton, aquatic macroinvertebrate community structure, trout population characteristics, trout stomach contents, inputs and emergence of insects to and from streams, and abundance of predatory riparian spiders that consume aquatic insects. Benthic macroinvertebrate density, flux of emerging aquatic insects, and riparian spider abundances were lower at burned sites. Fluxes of insect inputs entering the stream did not differ with burn status, despite the loss of riparian vegetation due to fire. Trout were somewhat less abundant, but larger on average at burned sites and did not differ in body condition. These results suggest mortality of smaller trout from fire disturbance and/or recolonization of burned sites by larger individuals. Trout showed subtle changes in diet composition with burn status, but no change in biomass or number of prey consumed. In general, burned sites showed greater variation in community characteristics than unburned sites, which may reflect differences in the timing and magnitude of post-fire flooding, erosion, and scouring of the stream bed. Taken together, our results suggest that short-term effects of fire disturbance strongly altered some food web responses, but others appeared relatively resilient, which is notable given the high severity of the wildfires in the study area.</p>
Data from: Experimentally simulating the evolution-to-ecology connection: Divergent predator morphologies alter natural food webs
<p class="MsoNormal">The idea that changing environmental conditions drive adaptive evolution is a pillar of evolutionary ecology. But, the opposite—that adaptive evolution alters ecological processes—has received far less attention yet is critical for eco-evolutionary dynamics. We assessed the ecological impact of divergent values in a key adaptive trait using 16 populations of the brown anole lizard (<em class="i">Anolis sagrei</em>). Mirroring natural variation, we established islands with short- or long-limbed lizards at both low and high densities. We then monitored changes in lower trophic levels, finding that on islands with short-limbed lizards at high-density<span class="inserted">,</span> web spider<span class="inserted">s</span> decreased and plants grew more via an indirect positive effect, likely through an herbivore-mediated trophic cascade. Our experiment provides strong support for evolution-to-ecology connections in nature, likely closing an otherwise well-characterized eco-evolutionary feedback loop.</p>
Large mammalian herbivores affect arthropod food webs via changes in vegetation characteristics and microclimate
<ol> <li>Large mammalian herbivores are vital components of terrestrial ecosystems, influencing the plants they feed on, but also serving as ecosystem engineers that impact the occurrence and survival of many other organisms. Arthropods are the most abundant and diverse animal group on earth, filling all trophic levels in food webs and facilitating essential ecosystem services. However, the impacts of large herbivores on arthropod communities and the mechanisms via which these impacts are mediated are not fully understood. </li> <li>Here, we experimentally separated the mechanistic pathways whereby large herbivores affect arthropod food webs using a 24-year manipulative multi-site field experiment in the Netherlands. We analyzed the abundance, biomass, and community composition of arthropods in the plant canopy and on the soil surface, both in grazed sites or sites where large herbivores were excluded.</li> <li>We found that the presence of large herbivores resulted in considerable differences in vegetation properties and microclimate which influenced the abundance and biomass of arthropods to varying trophic levels. Large herbivore grazing enhanced the overall abundance and biomass of arthropod herbivores, pollinators, omnivores, and soil-dwelling predators, but reduced that of detritivores, scavengers, parasitoids, and canopy predators. Structural equation models revealed that different trophic groups are affected by grazing via different pathways. Specially, large herbivores facilitated herbivores via increasing plant quality and enhanced ground-dwelling predators via increasing plant diversity. In contrast, plant-dwelling predators were suppressed via decreased plant quantity, and parasitoids were mainly affected by changes in microclimate conditions. </li> <li> <em>Synthesis</em>. Our results show that large mammalian herbivores play a significant role in shaping grassland arthropod food webs and that these impacts were independently mediated by multiple aspects of vegetation properties, i.e., physical structure, plant diversity, standing crop biomass, and leaf nutrient content. Arthropods of different trophic groups responded differently to the large herbivores, and these functional group-specific responses in turn may have strong cascading effects on numerous ecosystem services.</li> </ol>
Data for: Cessation of grazing causes biodiversity loss and homogenization of soil food webs
<p><span>There is widespread concern that cessation of grazing in historically grazed ecosystems is causing biotic homogenization and biodiversity loss. We used 12 montane grassland sites along an 800-km north-south gradient across the United Kingdom, to test whether cessation of grazing affects local ɑ- and β-diversity of belowground food webs. We show cessation of grazing leads to strongly decreased ɑ-diversity of most groups of soil microbes and fauna, particularly of relatively rare taxa. In contrast, the β-diversity varied between groups of soil organisms. While most soil microbial communities exhibited increased homogenization after cessation of grazing, we observed </span><span>decreased homogenization for soil fauna after cessation of grazing. Overall, our results indicate that exclusion of domesticated herbivores from historically grazed montane grasslands has far-ranging negative consequences for diversity of belowground food webs. This underscores the importance of grazers for maintaining the diversity of belowground communities, which play a central role in ecosystem functioning. </span></p>
Creating new littoral zones in a shallow lake to forward-restore an aquatic food web
<p>Freshwater fish communities typically thrive in heterogenous ecosystems that offer various abiotic conditions. However, human impact increasingly leads to loss of this natural heterogeneity and its associated rich fish communities. To reverse this trend, we need guidelines on how to effectively restore or recreate habitats for multiple fish species. Lake Markermeer in the Netherlands is a human-created 70,000-ha lake with a uniform 4 m-water depth, steep shorelines, high wind-induced turbidity, and a declining fish community. In 2016, a forward-looking restoration project newly created a 1000-ha five-island archipelago in this degrading lake, which offered new sheltered shallow waters and deep sand excavations to the fish community. In 2020, we assessed how omnivorous and piscivorous fish species used these new habitats by tracking 78 adult fish of five key species across local and lake scales. We monitored spring arrival of adult fish and assessed local macro-invertebrate and young-of-the-year fish densities. Adult omnivorous Cyprinidae and piscivorous Percidae arrived at the archipelago in early spring, corresponding with expected spawning movements. During the productive summer season, 12 species of young-of-the-year fish appeared along the sheltered shorelines, with particularly high densities of common roach (<em>Rutilus rutilus</em>) and European perch (<em>Perca fluviatilis</em>). This suggests the sheltered, shallow, vegetated waters formed new suitable spawning and recruitment habitat for the fish community. Despite the highest food densities for adult fish in the shallowest habitats (< 2-m), adult fish preferred minimally 2-m deep water. After spawning, most Cyprinidae left the archipelago and moved long distances through the lake system, while most Percidae remained resident. This may be related to (1) high densities of young-of-the-year fish as food for piscivores, (2) medium food densities for omnivores compared to elsewhere in the lake-system, or (3) the attractiveness of 30-m deep sand excavations that were newly created and frequently used by one-third of all tracked fish. New littoral zones and a deep sand excavation constructed in a uniform shallow lake that lacked these habitat types attracted omnivorous and piscivorous fish species within four years. Both feeding guilds used the littoral zones for reproduction and nursery, and notably piscivorous fish became residents year-round.</p>
Warming alters the top-down effect of a common mesopredator in an aquatic food web
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Global warming is altering the composition and functioning of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Most research has focussed on direct effects of warming on species and their population dynamics, while less is known about indirect effects through species interactions. Trophic cascades are especially likely to influence the effects of warming given that trophic levels differ in their response to warming because of differences in metabolism and vital rates such as growth and reproduction. We investigated if the top-down effect of a common mesopredator, the threespine stickleback, alters the impact of warming on a Baltic Sea food web. We manipulated both temperature and the presence of stickleback in mesocosms, and found the stickleback to alter the impact of warming on lower trophic levels. This was through increased consumption of herbivores that exceeded the rate at which the herbivore population could grow under higher temperature, which in turn increased algae biomass compared to a scenario without stickleback, but not compared to conditions under normal temperature. Thus, the mesopredator increased the transfer of biomass to higher trophic levels of the food web when temperature was increased. This stresses the importance of considering the impact of warming on multiple trophic levels and their interactions. Failing to consider differences in responses among trophic levels and the impact this has on their interactions can result in faulty conclusions about the impact of warming on ecosystems.</span></p>
Dataset for Role of Astrophorina sponges (Demospongiae) in food-web interactions at the Flemish Cap (NW Atlantic)
<p>The data include the functions used to develop the trophic/ non-trophic interaction web models, the input files for these models and the Rmarkdown files with the model output.</p>
Data from: A food web including parasites for kelp forests of the Santa Barbara Channel, California
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The use of plant, bacterial and fungal resources in soil food webs of ecto- and arbuscular mycorrhiza-dominated deciduous forests
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Data from: Feeding environment and other traits shape species' roles in marine food webs
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Biotic filtering by species’ interactions constrains food-web variability across spatial and abiotic gradients
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Reduced intraspecific variation in lake trout food webs under warmer temperatures and smaller ecosystem sizes: data and code
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Data from: Detrital shadows: estuarine food web connectivity depends on fluvial influence and consumer feeding mode
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Data from: Predator kairomones change food web structure and function, regardless of cues from consumed prey
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Data from: Ecosystem function in predator-prey food webs - confronting dynamic models with empirical data
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.