Consumption patterns, complexity and enrichment in aquatic food chains
(1998) In Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences 265(1399). p.901-906- Abstract
- The interactions between consumers and prey, and their impact on biomass distribution among trophic levels, are central issues in both empirical and theoretical ecology. In a long-term experiment, where all organisms, including the top predator, were allowed to respond to environmental conditions by reproduction, we tested predictions from `prey-dependent' and `ratio-dependent' models. Prey-dependent
models made correct predictions only in the presence of strong interactors in simple food chains, but failed to predict patterns in more complex situations. Processes such as omnivory, consumer excretion, and unsuitable prey-size windows (invulnerable prey) increased the complexity and created patterns resembling ratio-dependent... (More) - The interactions between consumers and prey, and their impact on biomass distribution among trophic levels, are central issues in both empirical and theoretical ecology. In a long-term experiment, where all organisms, including the top predator, were allowed to respond to environmental conditions by reproduction, we tested predictions from `prey-dependent' and `ratio-dependent' models. Prey-dependent
models made correct predictions only in the presence of strong interactors in simple food chains, but failed to predict patterns in more complex situations. Processes such as omnivory, consumer excretion, and unsuitable prey-size windows (invulnerable prey) increased the complexity and created patterns resembling ratio-dependent consumption. However, whereas the prey-dependent patterns were created by the mechanisms predicted by the model, ratio-dependent patterns were not, suggesting that they may be right for the wrong reason'. We show here that despite the enormous complexity of ecosystems, it is possible to identify and disentangle mechanisms responsible for observed patterns in community structure, as well as in biomass development of organisms ranging in size from bacteria to fish. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1023095
- author
- Hansson, Lars-Anders
LU
; Brönmark, Christer LU ; Nyström, Per LU ; Lundberg, Per LU ; Greenberg, Larry ; Nilsson, Anders LU
; Persson, Anders LU ; Pettersson, Lars LU
; Romare, Pia LU and Tranvik, Lars J.
- organization
- publishing date
- 1998
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- food chain, ratio-dependent, prey-dependent, enrichment, omnivory
- in
- Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
- volume
- 265
- issue
- 1399
- pages
- 901 - 906
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:0032557598
- ISSN
- 1471-2954
- DOI
- 10.1098/rspb.1998.0376
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 502442df-2b6b-499e-b4c0-b6f7f26b223a (old id 1023095)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 12:04:13
- date last changed
- 2023-01-03 03:25:11
@article{502442df-2b6b-499e-b4c0-b6f7f26b223a, abstract = {{The interactions between consumers and prey, and their impact on biomass distribution among trophic levels, are central issues in both empirical and theoretical ecology. In a long-term experiment, where all organisms, including the top predator, were allowed to respond to environmental conditions by reproduction, we tested predictions from `prey-dependent' and `ratio-dependent' models. Prey-dependent<br/><br> models made correct predictions only in the presence of strong interactors in simple food chains, but failed to predict patterns in more complex situations. Processes such as omnivory, consumer excretion, and unsuitable prey-size windows (invulnerable prey) increased the complexity and created patterns resembling ratio-dependent consumption. However, whereas the prey-dependent patterns were created by the mechanisms predicted by the model, ratio-dependent patterns were not, suggesting that they may be right for the wrong reason'. We show here that despite the enormous complexity of ecosystems, it is possible to identify and disentangle mechanisms responsible for observed patterns in community structure, as well as in biomass development of organisms ranging in size from bacteria to fish.}}, author = {{Hansson, Lars-Anders and Brönmark, Christer and Nyström, Per and Lundberg, Per and Greenberg, Larry and Nilsson, Anders and Persson, Anders and Pettersson, Lars and Romare, Pia and Tranvik, Lars J.}}, issn = {{1471-2954}}, keywords = {{food chain; ratio-dependent; prey-dependent; enrichment; omnivory}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{1399}}, pages = {{901--906}}, publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}}, series = {{Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences}}, title = {{Consumption patterns, complexity and enrichment in aquatic food chains}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1998.0376}}, doi = {{10.1098/rspb.1998.0376}}, volume = {{265}}, year = {{1998}}, }