Effects of plant sex on insect abundance across three trophic levels in the perennial shrub Buddleja cordata

2019 ◽  
Vol 167 (11) ◽  
pp. 950-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xoaquín Moreira ◽  
Araceli Romero‐Pérez ◽  
Ethel Luna‐Chaparro ◽  
Domancar Orona‐Tamayo ◽  
Elizabeth Quintana‐Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Insect Abundance ◽  
Perennial Shrub ◽  
Buddleja Cordata ◽  
Plant Sex

scholarly journals Citizen Science for Quantification of Insect Abundance on Windshields of Cars Across Two Continents

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Pape Møller ◽  
Dorota Czeszczewik ◽  
Johannes Erritzøe ◽  
Einar Flensted-Jensen ◽  
Karsten Laursen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Biological Significance ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Insect Abundance ◽  
Flying Insects ◽  
Driving Speed ◽  
Main Determinants ◽  
Abiotic And Biotic Factors

The abundance and the diversity of insects in Europe have declined considerably during recent decades, while it remains unclear whether similar changes may also have occurred elsewhere. Here we used citizen science for quantifying the abundance of flying insects on windshields of cars across Europe and to a smaller extent in China. We used the abundance of insects killed against windshields of cars during 3,530 transects for a total distance of 83,019 km made by 50 observers as estimates of insect abundance. A total of 124,606 insects were recorded, or approximately 1.5 insect per km. The abundance of insects killed against windshields was highly repeatable among days for the same locality, showing consistent estimates of abundance. The main determinants of insect abundance were features of cars (driving speed and car model that can be considered noise of no biological significance), local weather (temperature, cloud cover and wind speed) and variation across the season and the day. We tested for differences in the abundance of flying insects killed on windshields of cars predicting and finding (1) a reduction in insect abundance in areas with ionizing radiation at Chernobyl compared to uncontaminated control sites in the neighborhood, (2) a reduction in the abundance of flying insects in Western compared to Eastern Europe, (3) a reduction in the abundance of flying insects killed on windshields from southern to northern Europe compared to latitudinal samples of insects from southern to northern China, and (4) a difference in abundance of insects killed on windshields of cars in Spain with a significant interaction between Spain and Denmark. Thus a number of abiotic and biotic factors accounted for temporal and spatial heterogeneity in abundance of insects, providing a useful tool for monitoring and studying determinants of spatial and temporal patterns of insect abundance. This also implies that our estimate of insect abundance may be relevant for the study of competition and for interactions at higher trophic levels.

Relationship between morphometrics and trophic levels in deep-sea fishes

2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. 225-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Ladds ◽  
MH Pinkerton ◽  
E Jones ◽  
LM Durante ◽  
MR Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotopes ◽  
Trophic Level ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Ecosystem Model ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Fish Size ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Gape Size ◽  
Morphological Variables

Marine food webs are structured, in part, by predator gape size. Species found in deep-sea environments may have evolved such that they can consume prey of a wide range of sizes, to maximise resource intake in a low-productivity ecosystem. Estimates of gape size are central to some types of ecosystem model that determine which prey are available to predators, but cannot always be measured directly. Deep-sea species are hypothesized to have larger gape sizes than shallower-water species relative to their body size and, because of pronounced adaptive foraging behaviour, show only a weak relationship between gape size and trophic level. Here we present new data describing selective morphological measurements and gape sizes of 134 osteichthyan and chondrichthyan species from the deep sea (200-1300 m) off New Zealand. We describe how gape size (height, width and area) varied with factors including fish size, taxonomy (class and order within a class) and trophic level estimated from stable isotopes. For deep-sea species, there was a strong relationship between gape size and fish size, better predicted by body mass than total length, which varied by taxonomic group. Results show that predictions of gape size can be made from commonly measured morphological variables. No relationship between gape size and trophic level was found, likely a reflection of using trophic level estimates from stable isotopes as opposed to the commonly used estimates from FishBase. These results support the hypothesis that deep-sea fish are generalists within their environment, including suspected scavenging, even at the highest trophic levels.

ENERGY TRANSFER EFFICIENCIES ON LOWER TROPHIC LEVELS WITH INTENSIVE OYSTER FARMING IN HIROSHIMA BAY, JAPAN

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Umehara ◽  
Akira Umehara ◽  
Satoshi Asaoka ◽  
Satoshi Asaoka ◽  
Naoki Fujii ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transfer ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
Skeletonema Costatum ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Phytoplankton Primary Production ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Hiroshima Prefecture ◽  
Study Species

In enclosed water areas, organic matters are actively produced by phytoplankton due to abundant nutrient supply from the rivers. In our study area of the semi-enclosed Hiroshima Bay, oyster farming consuming high primary production has been developed since the 1950s, and the oyster production of Hiroshima prefecture have had the largest market share (ca. 60%) in Japan. In this study, species composition of phytoplankton, primary production, and secondary production of net zooplanktons and oysters were determined seasonally at seven stations in the bay between November 2014 and August 2015. In the bay, diatoms including Skeletonema costatum dominated during the period of the study. The primary productions markedly increased during summer (August), and its mean values in the northern part of the bay (NB) and the southern part (SB) were 530 and 313 mgC/m2/d, respectively. The productions of net zooplankton and oyster increased during the warm season, and its mean values in the NB were 14 and 1.2 mgC/m2/d, and in SB were 28 and 0.9 mgC/m2/d, respectively. The energy transfer efficiencies from the primary producers to the secondary producers in the NB and SB were 2.8% and 9.1%, respectively. However, the transfer efficiency to the oysters was approximately 0.3% in the bay. This study clearly showed the spatial difference of the productions and transfer efficiencies, and the low contribution of the production of oysters in secondary productions in Hiroshima Bay.

Evaluation and Avoidance of False Alarm by Controlling Rhine Water with Continuously Working Biotests

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Puzicha
Keyword(s):  
Warning System ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
River Rhine ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
River Test ◽  
Continuous Working ◽  
Range Of Variation ◽  
Contaminant Load ◽  
Rhine Water

Effluents from point sources (industries, communities) and diffuse inputs introduce pollutants into the water of the river Rhine and cause a basic contaminant load. The aim is to establish a biological warning system to detect increased toxicity in addition to the already existing chemical-physical monitoring system. To cover a wide range of biocides, continuous working biotests at different trophic levels (bacteria, algae, mussels, water fleas, fishes) have been developed and proved. These are checked out for sensitivity against toxicants, reaction time, validity of data and practical handling under field conditions at the river. Test-specific appropriate methods are found to differentiate between the normal range of variation and true alarm signals.

Trophic Cascades in Grasslands

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Wilsey
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Temperate Grasslands ◽  
Cascading Effect ◽  
Top Predators ◽  
Invertebrate Predators ◽  
Ecology Of Fear

Top predators have effects that can ‘cascade down’ on lower trophic levels. Because of this cascading effect, it matters how many trophic levels are present. Predators are either ‘sit and wait’ or ‘active’. Wolves are top predators in temperate grasslands and can alter species composition of smaller-sized predators, prey, and woody and herbaceous plant species, either through direct effects or indirect effects (‘Ecology of Fear’). In human derived grasslands, invertebrate predators fill a similar ecological role as wolves. Migrating populations of herbivores tend to be more limited by food than non-migratory populations. The phenology and synchrony of births vary among prey species in a way that is consistent with an adaptation to predation. Precocious species have highly synchronous birth dates to satiate predators. Non-precocious species (‘hiders’) have asynchronous births. Results from studies that manipulate both predators and food support the hypothesis that bottom-up and top-down effects interact.

scholarly journals Elevated temperature and browning increase dietary methylmercury, but decrease essential fatty acids at the base of lake food webs

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pianpian Wu ◽  
Martin J. Kainz ◽  
Fernando Valdés ◽  
Siwen Zheng ◽  
Katharina Winter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Essential Fatty Acids ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Essential Nutrients ◽  
Aquatic Food Webs ◽  
Aquatic Food

AbstractClimate change scenarios predict increases in temperature and organic matter supply from land to water, which affect trophic transfer of nutrients and contaminants in aquatic food webs. How essential nutrients, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and potentially toxic contaminants, such as methylmercury (MeHg), at the base of aquatic food webs will be affected under climate change scenarios, remains unclear. The objective of this outdoor mesocosm study was to examine how increased water temperature and terrestrially-derived dissolved organic matter supply (tDOM; i.e., lake browning), and the interaction of both, will influence MeHg and PUFA in organisms at the base of food webs (i.e. seston; the most edible plankton size for zooplankton) in subalpine lake ecosystems. The interaction of higher temperature and tDOM increased the burden of MeHg in seston (< 40 μm) and larger sized plankton (microplankton; 40–200 μm), while the MeHg content per unit biomass remained stable. However, PUFA decreased in seston, but increased in microplankton, consisting mainly of filamentous algae, which are less readily bioavailable to zooplankton. We revealed elevated dietary exposure to MeHg, yet decreased supply of dietary PUFA to aquatic consumers with increasing temperature and tDOM supply. This experimental study provides evidence that the overall food quality at the base of aquatic food webs deteriorates during ongoing climate change scenarios by increasing the supply of toxic MeHg and lowering the dietary access to essential nutrients of consumers at higher trophic levels.

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