scholarly journals Keystone predation and molecules of keystone significance

Ecology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 1710-1721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard K. Zimmer ◽  
Graham A. Ferrier ◽  
Steven J. Kim ◽  
Rachel R. Ogorzalek Loo ◽  
Cheryl Ann Zimmer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Keystone Predation

scholarly journals Trophic control of cryptic coralline algal diversity

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (30) ◽  
pp. 15080-15085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine R. Hind ◽  
Samuel Starko ◽  
Jenn M. Burt ◽  
Matthew A. Lemay ◽  
Anne K. Salomon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Algal Species ◽  
Trophic Dynamics ◽  
Kelp Forests ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Nearshore Ecosystems ◽  
Keystone Predation ◽  
Ecological Patterns ◽  
Ecosystem Level ◽  
Algal Assemblages

Understanding how trophic dynamics drive variation in biodiversity is essential for predicting the outcomes of trophic downgrading across the world’s ecosystems. However, assessing the biodiversity of morphologically cryptic lineages can be problematic, yet may be crucial to understanding ecological patterns. Shifts in keystone predation that favor increases in herbivore abundance tend to have negative consequences for the biodiversity of primary producers. However, in nearshore ecosystems, coralline algal cover increases when herbivory is intense, suggesting that corallines may uniquely benefit from trophic downgrading. Because many coralline algal species are morphologically cryptic and their diversity has been globally underestimated, increasing the resolution at which we distinguish species could dramatically alter our conclusions about the consequences of trophic dynamics for this group. In this study, we used DNA barcoding to compare the diversity and composition of cryptic coralline algal assemblages at sites that differ in urchin biomass and keystone predation by sea otters. We show that while coralline cover is greater in urchin-dominated sites (or “barrens”), which are subject to intense grazing, coralline assemblages in these urchin barrens are significantly less diverse than in kelp forests and are dominated by only 1 or 2 species. These findings clarify how food web structure relates to coralline community composition and reconcile patterns of total coralline cover with the widely documented pattern that keystone predation promotes biodiversity. Shifts in coralline diversity and distribution associated with transitions from kelp forests to urchin barrens could have ecosystem-level effects that would be missed by ignoring cryptic species’ identities.

Climate Change, Keystone Predation, and Biodiversity Loss

Science ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 334 (6059) ◽  
pp. 1124-1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. D. G. Harley
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Keystone Predation

scholarly journals Reduction and recovery of keystone predation pressure after disease-related mass mortality

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 3952-3964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica M. Moritsch ◽  
Peter T. Raimondi
Keyword(s):  
Mass Mortality ◽  
Predation Pressure ◽  
Keystone Predation

scholarly journals Spatial dynamics of keystone predation

2008 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. 1306-1315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanga Amarasekare
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Keystone Predation

Pitcher-plant communities as model systems for addressing fundamental questions in ecology and evolution

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Miller ◽  
William E. Bradshaw ◽  
Christina M. Holzapfel
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Model System ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Resource Control ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Pitcher Plant ◽  
Genetic Structure Of Populations ◽  
Keystone Predation ◽  
Density Dependent Selection ◽  
Diptera Larvae

Carnivorous plants have close associations with other species that live in or on the plant. Sarracenia purpurea has a particularly large number of inquiline species, many of which are obligates that live in its water-filled leaves. These include a well-studied food web of bacteria, protozoa, rotifers, mites, and Diptera larvae, all of which depend on the prey of the host plant. This model system has been used to address fundamental questions in ecology and evolution, including studies of keystone predation, succession, consumer versus resource control, invasion, dispersal, and the roles of resources and predators in metacommunities. The microecosystem also has been used to understand density-dependent selection, the genetic structure of populations, evolution over climatic gradients, and evolution in a multispecies, community context. In this chapter, the ecology of this potentially mutualistic contained community is explored in the context of its carnivorous host.

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