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44 results for “trophic impacts”
Impacts of Climate Warming on Trophic Function at Harvard Forest and Duke Forest 2013
Forest floor food webs play pivotal roles in carbon cycling, but they are rarely considered in models of carbon fluxes, including soil carbon dioxide emissions (respiration), under climatic warming. The indirect effects of invertebrates on heterotrophic respiration through interactions with microbial communities are significant and will be altered by warming. However, the interactive effects of invertebrates and warming on microbes and heterotrophic respiration in the field are poorly understood. In this study we combined field and common garden laboratory approaches to examine relationships between warming, forest floor food web structure, and heterotrophic respiration. We found that soil animals can overwhelm the effects of warming (to 5 degrees Celsius above ambient) on heterotrophic respiration. In particular, the presence of higher trophic levels and burrowing detritivores strongly determined heterotrophic respiration rates in temperate forest soils, dictating the ecosystem response to warming. These effects were, however, context-dependent, with greater effects in a lower-latitude site. Without isolating and including the significant impact of invertebrates, climate models will be incomplete, hindering well-informed policy decisions.
Impacts of microplastics on wetland ecosystem dynamics: a mesocosm study of trophic interactions and community responses, 2021-2025
This dataset documents a mesocosm experiment conducted to evaluate the ecological impacts of microplastics (MP) on wetland communities representative of eastern USA wetlands. The study focused on key organisms across trophic levels, including tadpoles (Lithobates pipiens), snails (Helisoma trivolvis), zooplankton (Daphnia pulex), phytoplankton, and periphyton communities, to assess the effects of three microplastic types (low-density polyethylene–LDPE, medium-density polystyrene–PS, and high-density polyester–PES) at two concentrations (1 mg/L and 5 mg/L), alongside a no-microplastic control. Experimental units consisted of 70 mesocosms (19-L buckets) with 10 replicates per treatment, established between July 1–15, 2021, at Binghamton University’s Ecological Research Facility. Response variables included survival and developmental traits (mass, snout-vent length, shell width) of tadpoles and snails, microplastic ingestion, zooplankton abundance, phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll and phycocyanin concentrations), and periphyton mass. The dataset provides comprehensive measurements of community responses and water quality parameters, offering insights into the ecological consequences of microplastic pollution in wetland ecosystems. This dataset is suitable for researchers studying ecotoxicology, wetland ecology, and the impacts of anthropogenic pollutants on aquatic food webs.
Data for "Examining functional impact and trophic morphology of small, sand-sifting fishes on coral reefs"
<p>This data is the product of the study published as "<strong>Examining functional impact and trophic morphology of small, sand-sifting fishes on coral reefs </strong>"</p> <p>It contains:<br> Feeding depth count of the two fish species used</p> <p>Granulometry on the experimental sediment</p> <p>Gut content analysis of the 8 fish used in the experiment. Measurements of maximum and minimum size of each individual prey item noted.</p> <p>Feeding experiment count data. ID and count data of meiobenthos (benthic meiofauna) found during the feeding experiment. The benthic community was assessed in 3 replicates for each fish individual at each timepoint. See the methods in publications for details or contact the Ole Brodnicke or Camilla Hansen for details. </p>
Figure 5 in Impact of rainforest conversion into monoculture plantation systems on pseudoscorpion density, diversity and trophic niches
Figure 5. Stable isotope values of pseudoscorpion species in different land-use systems; means with standard deviation. Dashed horizontal lines represent estimated trophic level boundaries; trophic level 1 (plant material) not shown. Decomposers feeding on detritus (trophic level 2) were assumed to be enriched in 15N by 1.7 ‰ compared to leaf litter, each following trophic level was assumed to span 3.4 ‰ (Post 2002; Potapov et al. 2019a). For abbreviations see Table 1.
Figure 3 in Impact of rainforest conversion into monoculture plantation systems on pseudoscorpion density, diversity and trophic niches
Figure 3. Bootstrap species accumulation curve based on the number of adult individuals in the studied land-use systems.
Figure 4 in Impact of rainforest conversion into monoculture plantation systems on pseudoscorpion density, diversity and trophic niches
Figure 4. Venn diagram of the species composition in the three land-use systems studied (rainforest, rubber, oil palm) in the Bukit Duabelas (left) and Harapan landscape (right). Landscape-specific species are underlined in red. The riparian-specific species in Harapan is underlined in cyan. For abbreviations see Table 1.
Figure 2 in Impact of rainforest conversion into monoculture plantation systems on pseudoscorpion density, diversity and trophic niches
Figure 2. Density of pseudoscorpions in litter and soil of the three land-use systems studied (rainforest, rubber, oil palm) in the Bukit Duabelas and Harapan landscape. Each data point represents one sampling plot (three pooled subplot samples). Only non-riparian sites are shown.
Figure 1 in Impact of rainforest conversion into monoculture plantation systems on pseudoscorpion density, diversity and trophic niches
Figure 1. Four species of pseudoscorpions found at the study sites. From left to right: Atemnidae sp.1, Lagynochthonius sp.1, Atemnidae sp.2, Hya minuta.
Warmer temperatures reinforce negative land-use impacts on bees, but not on higher insect trophic levels
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Food chain without giants: Modelling the trophic impact of bowhead whaling on little auk populations in the Atlantic Arctic
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Data from: Selection past impacts the strength of an aquatic trophic cascade
1. In complex food webs, interactions among species in different trophic levels can generate cascading indirect effects that couple top predators with primary producers, thereby affecting ecosystem functioning. Natural selection imposed by top predators on intermediate predators may play a role in shaping the strength of these trophic cascades, but this conjecture remains largely untested. 2. To determine the effects of natural selection on the strength of trophic cascades we conducted a two-part experiment in a four-level aquatic trophic system involving a top predator (fish), an intermediate predator (damselflies), herbivores (zooplankton), and primary producers (algae). We first quantified how predation by fish generated selection on damselfly activity levels after controlling for phenotypic plasticity. We then measured the indirect effects of this selection on primary production (phytoplankton biomass). In both experiments we varied the density of predators, allowing us to elucidate both trait-mediated and density-mediated indirect effects. 3. We found that as fish density increased, damselfly survivorship declined, which generated natural selection favoring less active damselflies. These results are robust after taking into account latent effects of plasticity in response to fish predator cues. The surviving damselflies likely foraged less, freeing herbivores from predation, which in turn reduced primary production. This selection driven trait-mediated indirect effect was only apparent at low damselfly densities, because the consumptive effect of damselflies at high densities overwhelmed the effects of past selection. 4. These results demonstrate that the past action of natural selection can affect the strength of a trophic cascade. Natural selection can therefore act as a mechanism coupling ecological dynamics across trophic levels, which ultimately influences ecosystem functioning.
Data from: Impacts of rainfall extremes predicted by climate-change models on major trophic groups in the leaf-litter arthropod community
1. Arthropods in the leaf-litter layer of forest soils influence ecosystem processes such as decomposition. Climate-change models predict both increases and decreases in average rainfall. Increased drought may have greater impacts on the litter arthropod community. In addition to affecting survival or behavior of desiccation-sensitive species, lower rainfall may indirectly lower abundances of consumers that graze drought-stressed fungi, with repercussions for higher trophic levels. 2. We tested the hypothesis that trophic structure will differ between the two rainfall scenarios. In particular, we hypothesized that densities of several broadly defined trophic groupings of arthropods would be lower under reduced rainfall. 3. To test this hypothesis we used sprinklers to impose two rainfall treatments during three growing seasons in roofed, fenced 14-m2 plots; and documented changes in abundance from initial, pre-treatment densities of 39 arthropod taxa. Experimental plots were subjected to either LOW (fortnightly) or HIGH (weekly) average rainfall based upon climate models and the previous 100 years of regional weekly averages. Unroofed open plots, our reference treatment (REF), experienced higher-than-average rainfall during the experiment. 4. The two rainfall extremes produced clear negative effects of lowered rainfall on major trophic groups. Broad categories of fungivores, detritivores and predators were more abundant in HIGH than LOW plots by the final year. Springtails (Collembola), which graze fungal hyphae, were 3x more abundant in the HIGH-rainfall treatment. Taxa of larger-bodied fungivores and detritivores, spiders (Araneae), and non-spider predators were 2x more abundant under HIGH rainfall. Densities of mites (Acari), which include fungivores, detritivores and predators, were 1.5x greater in HIGH rainfall plots. Abundances and community structure of arthropods were similar in REF and experimental plots, showing that effects of rainfall uncovered in the experiment are applicable to nature. 5. This pattern suggests that changes in rainfall will alter bottom-up control processes in a critical detritus-based food web of deciduous forests. Our results, in conjunction with other findings on the impact of desiccation on arthropods and fungal growth, suggest that drier conditions will depress densities of fungal consumers, causing declines in higher trophic levels, with possible impacts on soil processes and the larger forest food web.
Data supporting: Impacts of extreme climatic events on trophic network complexity and multidimensional stability
<p>Data used to produce the results presented in the manuscript entitled "Impacts of extreme climatic events on trophic network complexity and multidimensional stability", published in the journal "Ecology". The data were obtained from an outdoor pond mesocosm experiment where freshwater communities were exposed to two different heatwave scenarios. </p>
Data from: Selection past impacts the strength of an aquatic trophic cascade
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Data from: Impacts of rainfall extremes predicted by climate-change models on major trophic groups in the leaf-litter arthropod community
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Data from: Tempo of trophic evolution and its impact on mammalian diversification
Mammals are characterized by the complex adaptations of their dentition, which are an indication that diet has played a critical role in their evolutionary history. Although much attention has focused on diet and the adaptations of specific taxa, the role of diet in large-scale diversification patterns remains unresolved. Contradictory hypotheses have been proposed, making prediction of the expected relationship difficult. We show that net diversification rate (the cumulative effect of speciation and extinction), differs significantly among living mammals, depending upon trophic strategy. Herbivores diversify fastest, carnivores are intermediate, and omnivores are slowest. The tempo of transitions between the trophic strategies is also highly biased: the fastest rates occur into omnivory from herbivory and carnivory and the lowest transition rates are between herbivory and carnivory. Extant herbivore and carnivore diversity arose primarily through diversification within lineages, whereas omnivore diversity evolved by transitions into the strategy. The ability to specialize and subdivide the trophic niche allowed herbivores and carnivores to evolve greater diversity than omnivores.
Data from: Light availability impacts structure and function of phototrophic stream biofilms across domains and trophic levels
Phototrophic biofilms are ubiquitous in freshwater and marine environments where they are critical for biogeochemical cycling, food webs and in industrial applications. In streams, phototrophic biofilms dominate benthic microbial life and harbor an immense prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial biodiversity with biotic interactions across domains and trophic levels. Here, we examine how community structure and function of these biofilms respond to varying light availability, as the crucial energy source for phototrophic biofilms. Using metatranscriptomics, we found that under light limitation dominant phototrophs, including diatoms and cyanobacteria, displayed a remarkable plasticity in their photosynthetic machinery manifested as higher abundance of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) involved in photosynthesis and chloroplast ribosomal RNA. Under higher light availability, bacterial mRNAs involved in phosphorus metabolism, mainly from Betaproteobacteria and Cyanobacteria, increased, likely compensating for nutrient depletion in thick biofilms with high biomass. Consumers, including diverse ciliates, displayed community shifts indicating preferential grazing on algae instead of bacteria under higher light. For the first time, we show that the functional integrity of stream biofilms under variable light availability is maintained by structure-function adaptations on several trophic levels. Our findings shed new light on complex biofilms, or "microbial jungles", where in analogy to forests, diverse and multi-trophic level communities lend stability to ecosystem functioning. This multi-trophic level perspective, coupling metatranscriptomics to process measurements, could advance understanding of microbial-driven ecosystems beyond biofilms, including planktonic and soil environments.
FIG. 6 in Predicting Eco-evolutionary Impacts of Fishing on Body Size and Trophic Role of Atlantic Cod
FIG. 6. Demography and adaptation are predicted to interact to shape the abundance, body size distribution, and trophic role of Atlantic Cod.
FIG. 5 in Predicting Eco-evolutionary Impacts of Fishing on Body Size and Trophic Role of Atlantic Cod
FIG. 5. (A) Change in mean trophic level and (B) the abundance of fish with trophic level greater than 5.5, relative to the unfished population, with size-selective fishing mortality in both scenarios. In both panels, black lines are demography only, gray lines are demography with adaptation.
FIG. 2 in Predicting Eco-evolutionary Impacts of Fishing on Body Size and Trophic Role of Atlantic Cod
FIG. 2. (A) Age distribution of mature females in the unfished population. (B) Age distribution of mature females after size-selective fishing mortality. Note that growth, maturation, and fecundity functions are fixed functions of age and do not change with additional mortality (solid lines, Fig. 1B, C). Inset: Fishery selectivity (risk of fishing mortality) increases steeply with length. (C) Age distribution of mature females when maturation age decreases in response to size-selective fishing (dashed lines, Fig. 1B, C). Selectivity is identical to the inset in panel B.
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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)
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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.