scholarly journals Adaptive harvesting drives fishing down processes, regime shifts, and resilience changes in predator-prey systems

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Tromeur ◽  
Nicolas Loeuille
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Trophic Level ◽  
Regime Shifts ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Abrupt Changes ◽  
Mean Trophic Level ◽  
High Adaptation

AbstractMany world fisheries display a declining mean trophic level of catches. This “fishing down the food web” is often attributed to reduced densities of high-trophic-level species, reflecting changes in the structure of harvested food webs. However, this pattern can also result from a restructuring of the fishery, that shifts from a focus on depleted upper trophic levels to abundant lower trophic levels. In fact, we show here that fishing down the food web can emerge from the adaptive harvesting of a predator-prey community, where changes in fishing patterns are driven by the relative profitabilities of the harvested species. The shift from a predator- to a prey-focused fishing pattern can yield abrupt changes in the system, and cause sudden losses in species densities. Such regime shifts occur when the predator species is highly valuable relative to the prey, and if it exerts a strong top-down control on the lower trophic level. Moreover, we find that when the two species are jointly harvested, high adaptation speeds can reduce the resilience of fisheries. Our results therefore suggest that flexibility in harvesting strategies will not necessarily benefit fisheries but may actually harm their sustainability.

Predator–prey interactions and climate change

2019 ◽  
pp. 199-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Bretagnolle ◽  
Julien Terraube
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Generalist Predators ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Key Topics ◽  
Available Information

Climate change is likely to impact all trophic levels, although the response of communities and ecosystems to it has only recently received considerable attention. Further, it is expected to affect the magnitude of species interactions themselves. In this chapter, we summarize why and how climate change could affect predator–prey interactions, then review the literature about its impact on predator–prey relationships in birds, and provide prospects for future studies. Expected effects on prey or predators may include changes in the following: distribution, phenology, population density, behaviour, morphology, or physiology. We review the currently available information concerning particular key topics: top-down versus bottom-up control, specialist versus generalist predators, functional versus numerical responses, trophic cascades and regime shifts, and lastly adaptation and selection. Finally, we focus our review on two well-studied bird examples: seabirds and raptors. Key future topics include long-term studies, modelling and experimental studies, evolutionary questions, and conservation issues.

scholarly journals Examining predator–prey body size, trophic level and body mass across marine and terrestrial mammals

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1797) ◽  
pp. 20142103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlee A. Tucker ◽  
Tracey L. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Trophic Level ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals

Predator–prey relationships and trophic levels are indicators of community structure, and are important for monitoring ecosystem changes. Mammals colonized the marine environment on seven separate occasions, which resulted in differences in species' physiology, morphology and behaviour. It is likely that these changes have had a major effect upon predator–prey relationships and trophic position; however, the effect of environment is yet to be clarified. We compiled a dataset, based on the literature, to explore the relationship between body mass, trophic level and predator–prey ratio across terrestrial ( n = 51) and marine ( n = 56) mammals. We did not find the expected positive relationship between trophic level and body mass, but we did find that marine carnivores sit 1.3 trophic levels higher than terrestrial carnivores. Also, marine mammals are largely carnivorous and have significantly larger predator–prey ratios compared with their terrestrial counterparts. We propose that primary productivity, and its availability, is important for mammalian trophic structure and body size. Also, energy flow and community structure in the marine environment are influenced by differences in energy efficiency and increased food web stability. Enhancing our knowledge of feeding ecology in mammals has the potential to provide insights into the structure and functioning of marine and terrestrial communities.

scholarly journals Trophic cascades alter eco-evolutionary dynamics and body size evolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1938) ◽  
pp. 20200526
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Luhring ◽  
John P. DeLong
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Trophic Level ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Trophic Cascades ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Chain Model ◽  
Top Predator ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Top Predators ◽  
Time Changes

Trait evolution in predator–prey systems can feed back to the dynamics of interacting species as well as cascade to impact the dynamics of indirectly linked species (eco-evolutionary trophic cascades; EETCs). A key mediator of trophic cascades is body mass, as it both strongly influences and evolves in response to predator–prey interactions. Here, we use Gillespie eco-evolutionary models to explore EETCs resulting from top predator loss and mediated by body mass evolution. Our four-trophic-level food chain model uses allometric scaling to link body mass to different functions (ecological pleiotropy) and is realistically parameterized from the FORAGE database to mimic the parameter space of a typical freshwater system. To track real-time changes in selective pressures, we also calculated fitness gradients for each trophic level. As predicted, top predator loss generated alternating shifts in abundance across trophic levels, and, depending on the nature and strength in changes to fitness gradients, also altered trajectories of body mass evolution. Although more distantly linked, changes in the abundance of top predators still affected the eco-evolutionary dynamics of the basal producers, in part because of their relatively short generation times. Overall, our results suggest that impacts on top predators can set off transient EETCs with the potential for widespread indirect impacts on food webs.

scholarly journals Drivers of trophic amplification of ocean productivity trends in a changing climate

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7125-7135 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Stock ◽  
J. P. Dunne ◽  
J. G. John
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Trophic Level ◽  
Net Primary Production ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Phytoplankton Production ◽  
Planktonic Food ◽  
Projected Changes ◽  
Zooplankton Growth

Abstract. Pronounced projected 21st century trends in regional oceanic net primary production (NPP) raise the prospect of significant redistributions of marine resources. Recent results further suggest that NPP changes may be amplified at higher trophic levels. Here, we elucidate the role of planktonic food web dynamics in driving projected changes in mesozooplankton production (MESOZP) found to be, on average, twice as large as projected changes in NPP by the latter half of the 21st century under a high emissions scenario in the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's ESM2M–COBALT (Carbon, Ocean Biogeochemistry and Lower Trophics) earth system model. Globally, MESOZP was projected to decline by 7.9% but regional MESOZP changes sometimes exceeded 50%. Changes in three planktonic food web properties – zooplankton growth efficiency (ZGE), the trophic level of mesozooplankton (MESOTL), and the fraction of NPP consumed by zooplankton (zooplankton–phytoplankton coupling, ZPC), explain the projected amplification. Zooplankton growth efficiencies (ZGE) changed with NPP, amplifying both NPP increases and decreases. Negative amplification (i.e., exacerbation) of projected subtropical NPP declines via this mechanism was particularly strong since consumers in the subtropics have limited surplus energy above basal metabolic costs. Increased mesozooplankton trophic level (MESOTL) resulted from projected declines in large phytoplankton production. This further amplified negative subtropical NPP declines but was secondary to ZGE and, at higher latitudes, was often offset by increased ZPC. Marked ZPC increases were projected for high-latitude regions experiencing shoaling of deep winter mixing or decreased winter sea ice – both tending to increase winter zooplankton biomass and enhance grazer control of spring blooms. Increased ZPC amplified projected NPP increases in the Arctic and damped projected NPP declines in the northwestern Atlantic and Southern Ocean. Improved understanding of the physical and biological interactions governing ZGE, MESOTL and ZPC is needed to further refine estimates of climate-driven productivity changes across trophic levels.

Historical changes in mean trophic level of southern Australian fisheries

2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (10) ◽  
pp. 884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi K. Alleway ◽  
Sean D. Connell ◽  
Tim M. Ward ◽  
Bronwyn M. Gillanders
Keyword(s):  
Trophic Level ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
High Trophic Level ◽  
Fishing Pressure ◽  
Time Line ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Mean Trophic Level ◽  
Catch Statistics

Decreases in the mean trophic level (MTL) of fishery catches have been used to infer reductions in the abundance of high trophic level species caused by fishing pressure. Previous assessments of southern Australian fisheries have been inconclusive. The objectives of the present study were to provide more accurate estimates of MTL using disaggregated taxonomic and spatial data. We applied the model of MTL to fisheries catch statistics for the state of South Australia from 1951 to 2010 and a novel set of historical market data from 1936 to 1946. Results show that from 1951 to 2010, MTL declined by 0.16 of a trophic level per decade; a rate greater than the global average of 0.10 but equivalent to similar regional investigations in other areas. This change is mainly attributable to large increases in catches of sardine, rather than reductions in the catches of high trophic level species. The pattern is maintained when the historical data is included, providing a time line from 1936 to 2010. Our results show a broadening of the catch of lower trophic levels and suggest care in interpretation of MTL of catches because reductions do not necessarily reflect change in high trophic level species by fishing pressure.

scholarly journals Interpreting variation in fish-based food web indicators: the importance of “bottom-up limitation” and “top-down control” processes

2013 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 406-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. O. M. Reilly ◽  
H. M. Fraser ◽  
R. J. Fryer ◽  
J. Clarke ◽  
S. P. R. Greenstreet
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
Top Predators ◽  
Environmental Status ◽  
Fish Predators ◽  
Firth Of Forth

Abstract Reilly, T. O. M., Fraser, H. M., Fryer, R. J., Clarke, J., and Greenstreet, S. P. R. 2014. Interpreting variation in fish-based food web indicators: the importance of “bottom-up limitation” and “top-down control” processes. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71: 406–416. Proposed indicators for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) food webs Descriptor focus on structural elements of food webs, and in particular on the abundance and productivity of top predators. However, the inferences that can be drawn from such indicators depend on whether or not the predators are “bottom-up limited” by the availability of their prey. Many seabird populations appear to be “bottom-up limited” so that variation in their reproductive success and/or abundance reflects changes in lower trophic levels. Here we find that gadoid fish predators off the Firth of Forth, southeast Scotland, do not appear to be “bottom-up limited” by the biomass of their main prey, 0-group sandeels; gadoid biomass and feeding performance was independent of sandeel biomass. Variability in food web indicators based on these gadoid predators seems to impart little insight into underlying processes occurring at lower trophic levels in the local food web. The implications of this in terms of how the currently proposed MSFD food web indicators should be used and interpreted are considered, and the ramifications in terms of setting targets representing good environmental status for both fish and seabird communities are discussed.

Fisheries

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Beddington ◽  
Geoffrey P. Kirkwood
Keyword(s):  
Trophic Level ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Apex Predators ◽  
The North ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Mean Trophic Level ◽  
Global Statistics ◽  
United Nations Food

The depletion of fish stocks on a global scale is well documented. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation collects statistics on fisheries from all states and, despite obvious shortcomings in the data, a clear picture has been available for some time. Garcia and Grainger (2005) have succinctly documented the position from the latest available date: in 2003, only 3% of stocks were underexploited and 26% moderately exploited, while 52% were fully exploited, 16% were overfished, 7% were depleted, and 1% were recovering from earlier depletion. These global statistics mask two important phenomena. The first, highlighted by Pauly et al. (1998), is that fisheries are increasingly focusing on species lower down in the food-web and the second, highlighted by Myers and Worm (2003, 2005), is that large predatory fish have been particularly reduced in abundance. Both of these analyses are somewhat flawed. In the case of Pauly et al. there are two problems: the first is that the metrics used for the mean trophic level are presented as simple numbers with no estimates of error or indeed sensitivity. In such a situation, the changes in mean trophic levels are hard to interpret, particularly where the mean trophic level changes by at most around 10% over four decades. The second problem has been highlighted by a recent paper by Essington et al. (2006). They point out that in the periods when according to the analysis of Pauly et al. the mean trophic level was declining, in most cases catches of apex predators and indeed all upper trophic levels increased (an exception is the North Atlantic). In the case of the Myers and Worm analysis, they used the catch per unit of effort (CPUE) as an index of abundance. As discussed later in this chapter, there are problems with this, but more importantly for some key apex predators, in particular large tunas, the CPUE declines in the early stages of the fishery, where catches are small, but remains relatively stable under a regime of much higher catches. In such a situation, the interpretation that the CPUE reflects changes in abundance is clearly problematic.

Impacts of macrozoobenthic invasions on a temperate coastal food web

2020 ◽  
Vol 653 ◽  
pp. 19-39
Author(s):  
AS Jung ◽  
HW van der Veer ◽  
CJM Philippart ◽  
AM Waser ◽  
BJ Ens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Wadden Sea ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Total Consumption ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Carbon Transfer ◽  
The Impact

Invasions of marine species are changing coastal food webs worldwide, impacting on trophic interactions between native species (e.g. predator-prey relationships). Here, the impact of 3 macrozoobenthic invasive species on food web structure and functioning at Balgzand (western Wadden Sea) is quantified by using ecological network analysis (ENA). The bivalves Ensis leei and Magallana gigas were observed for the first time in 1984 and 2001, respectively, and the polychaete Marenzelleria viridis appeared in 1989. Although E. leei and M. viridis reached similar peak biomasses in the 2000s (ca. 1700 and 2000 mg C m-2, respectively), the bivalve consumption was higher (>45% of total consumption) than that of the polychaete (<10%). Biomass and impact of M. gigas remained relatively low. E. leei occupied an ecological niche that was relatively unoccupied, which led to competitive advantage with respect to other suspension feeders. Increasing biomass of E. leei coincided with a 70% increase of trophic carbon transfer from primary to secondary producers and an 80% increase from secondary producers to detritus. Carbon flows from secondary producers to higher trophic levels were reduced by more than 60%. These shifts in trophic transfer were stronger than those observed during the invasion of M. gigas in the NE Wadden Sea. At Balgzand, biomass of M. gigas and M. viridis rapidly declined to low values in the 2010s, implying a temporally limited impact. In the 2010s, E. leei was still responsible for 30% of the total consumption in the 2010s, indicating a longer-term impact.

scholarly journals Ecosystem status and functioning: searching for rules of thumb using an intersite comparison of food-web models of Northeast Atlantic continental shelves

2012 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Géraldine Lassalle ◽  
Jérémy Lobry ◽  
François Le Loc'h ◽  
Steven Mackinson ◽  
Francisco Sanchez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Channel Structure ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Northeast Atlantic ◽  
Continental Shelves ◽  
Rules Of Thumb ◽  
Energy Pathways

Abstract Lassalle, G., Lobry, J., Le Loc'h, F., Mackinson, S., Sanchez, F., Tomczak, M. T., and Niquil, N. 2013. Ecosystem status and functioning: searching for rules of thumb using an intersite comparison of food-web models of Northeast Atlantic continental shelves. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70:135–149. This work aimed to provide a better understanding of how the structure and function of marine ecosystems and trophic control mechanisms influence their response to perturbations. Comparative analysis of Ecopath models of four Northeast Atlantic ecosystems was used to search for rules of thumb defining the similarities and differences between them. Ecosystem indicators, related to the ecology of species interactions, were derived from these models and compared. Two main questions were addressed. (i) What are the main energy pathways and mechanisms of control? (ii) Do these ecosystems exhibit the widespread and potentially stabilizing food-web structure such that top predators couple distinct energy pathways? A strong bentho-pelagic coupling operated over the Bay of Biscay Shelf, while energy reached higher trophic levels mostly through pelagic compartments, in northern areas. Zooplankton was demonstrated to be trophically important in all ecosystems, acting as a regulator of the abundance of small pelagic fish. A latitudinal pattern in flow control was highlighted by this analysis, with a significant contribution of top-down effect at higher latitudes. This top-down control of the Baltic Sea, combined with the fact that this ecosystem did not exhibit the potentially stabilizing two-channel structure, suggested a non-stable environment.

scholarly journals Spatial variation in the stable isotopes of 13C and 15N and trophic position of Leporinus friderici (Characiformes, Anostomidae) in Corumbá Reservoir, Brazil

2007 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre L. Pereira ◽  
Evanilde Benedito ◽  
Cássia M. Sakuragui
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Carbon Source ◽  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Food Web ◽  
Trophic Level ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
C3 Plants ◽  
The One

Stable isotopes of carbon (delta13C) and nitrogen (delta15N) were used to describe sources of energy and trophic position for adult Leporinus friderici in the area of the Corumbá Reservoir, Brazil. Samples were collected from April 1999 to March 2000. Spatial variations were not identified in the isotopic composition. The maximum and minimum contribution of C4 plants calculated integrating the variation of plants and fish were 47.7% and 2.4%, respectively. Among C3 plants, periphyton presented closer isotopic values to those observed for fishes, corresponding to an important carbon source. The proportion of ingested plant item is larger in rivers upstream from the reservoir (42.7%), which justifies the smaller trophic level among there. However, in the reservoir, the ingestion of fish was 81.4%, while ingested plants contributed with 18.6%. Downstream from the dam, participation of plant item was even smaller (14.4%). Although the trophic position calculated with diet data was proportional to the one calculated with delta15N values, the former elevated the trophic level of L. friderici in the food web, because estimated trophic positions were based on fish items belonging to the 2nd (a) and to the 3rd (b) trophic levels.

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