scholarly journals Cascading effects of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi on the planktonic food web in a nutrient-limited estuarine system

2012 ◽  
Vol 460 ◽  
pp. 49-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Dinasquet ◽  
J Titelman ◽  
LF Møller ◽  
O Setälä ◽  
L Granhag ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (48) ◽  
pp. e2114840118
Author(s):  
Marie-Pier Hébert ◽  
Beatrix E. Beisner ◽  
Milla Rautio ◽  
Gregor F. Fussmann

Global climate warming is causing the loss of freshwater ice around the Northern Hemisphere. Although the timing and duration of ice covers are known to regulate ecological processes in seasonally ice-covered ecosystems, the consequences of shortening winters for freshwater biota are poorly understood owing to the scarcity of under-ice research. Here, we present one of the first in-lake experiments to postpone ice-cover onset (by ≤21 d), thereby extending light availability (by ≤40 d) in early winter, and explicitly demonstrate cascading effects on pelagic food web processes and phenologies. Delaying ice-on elicited a sequence of events from winter to spring: 1) relatively greater densities of algal resources and primary consumers in early winter; 2) an enhanced prevalence of winter-active (overwintering) consumers throughout the ice-covered period, associated with augmented storage of high-quality fats likely due to a longer access to algal resources in early winter; and 3) an altered trophic structure after ice-off, with greater initial springtime densities of overwintering consumers driving stronger, earlier top-down regulation, effectively reducing the spring algal bloom. Increasingly later ice onset may thus promote consumer overwintering, which can confer a competitive advantage on taxa capable of surviving winters upon ice-off; a process that may diminish spring food availability for other consumers, potentially disrupting trophic linkages and energy flow pathways over the subsequent open-water season. In considering a future with warmer winters, these results provide empirical evidence that may help anticipate phenological responses to freshwater ice loss and, more broadly, constitute a case of climate-induced cross-seasonal cascade on realized food web processes.


2004 ◽  
Vol 49 (4part2) ◽  
pp. 1435-1445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Ptacnik ◽  
Ulrich Sommer ◽  
Thomas Hansen ◽  
Volker Martens
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  

2014 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hélène Masclaux ◽  
Sébastien Tortajada ◽  
Olivier Philippine ◽  
François-Xavier Robin ◽  
Christine Dupuy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Bonnet ◽  
Melika Baklouti ◽  
Audrey Gimenez ◽  
Hugo Berthelot ◽  
Ilana Berman-Frank

Abstract. In marine ecosystems, N2 fixation provides the predominant external source of nitrogen (N) (140 ± 50 Tg N yr−1), contributing more than atmospheric and riverine inputs to the N supply. Yet the fate and magnitude of the newly-fixed N, or diazotroph-derived N (hereafter named DDN) in marine ecosystems is poorly understood. Moreover, it remains unclear whether the DDN is preferentially directly exported out of the photic zone, recycled by the microbial loop, and/or transferred into larger organisms, subsequently enhancing indirect particle export. These questions were investigated in the framework of the VAHINE (VAriability of vertical and tropHIc transfer of diazotroph derived N in the south wEst Pacific) project. Triplicate large volume (~50 m3) mesocosms were deployed in the tropical South West Pacific coastal ocean (New Caledonia) to maintain a stable water-mass without disturbing ambient light and temperature conditions. The mesocosms were intentionally fertilized with ~0.8 μM dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) at the start of the experiment to stimulate diazotrophy. A total of 47 stocks, fluxes, enzymatic activities and diversity parameters were measured daily inside and outside the mesocosms by the 40 scientists involved in the project. The experiment lasted for 23 days and was characterized by two distinct and successive diazotroph blooms: a dominance of diatom-diazotroph associations (DDAs) during the first half of the experiment (days 2–14) followed by a bloom of UCYN-C during the second half of the experiment (days 15–23). These conditions provided a unique opportunity to compare the DDN transfer and export efficiency associated with different diazotrophs. Here we summarize the major experimental and modelling results obtained during the project and described in the VAHINE Special issue, in particular those regarding the evolution of the main standing stocks, fluxes and biological characteristics over the 23-days experiment, the contribution of N2 fixation to export fluxes, the DDN released to dissolved pool and its transfer to the planktonic food web (bacteria, phytoplankton, zooplankton). We then apply our Eco3M modelling platform further to infer the fate of DDN in the ecosystem and role of N2 fixation on productivity, food web structure and carbon export. Recommendations for future work are finally provided in the conclusion section.


Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanche Saint-Béat ◽  
Brian D. Fath ◽  
Cyril Aubry ◽  
Jonathan Colombet ◽  
Julie Dinasquet ◽  
...  

Baffin Bay, located at the Arctic Ocean’s ‘doorstep’, is a heterogeneous environment where a warm and salty eastern current flows northwards in the opposite direction of a cold and relatively fresh Arctic current flowing along the west coast of the bay. This circulation affects the physical and biogeochemical environment on both sides of the bay. The phytoplanktonic species composition is driven by its environment and, in turn, shapes carbon transfer through the planktonic food web. This study aims at determining the effects of such contrasting environments on ecosystem structure and functioning and the consequences for the carbon cycle. Ecological indices calculated from food web flow values provide ecosystem properties that are not accessible by direct in situ measurement. From new biological data gathered during the Green Edge project, we built a planktonic food web model for each side of Baffin Bay, considering several biological processes involved in the carbon cycle, notably in the gravitational, lipid, and microbial carbon pumps. Missing flow values were estimated by linear inverse modeling. Calculated ecological network analysis indices revealed significant differences in the functioning of each ecosystem. The eastern Baffin Bay food web presents a more specialized food web that constrains carbon through specific and efficient pathways, leading to segregation of the microbial loop from the classical grazing chain. In contrast, the western food web showed redundant and shorter pathways that caused a higher carbon export, especially via lipid and microbial pumps, and thus promoted carbon sequestration. Moreover, indirect effects resulting from bottom-up and top-down control impacted pairwise relations between species differently and led to the dominance of mutualism in the eastern food web. These differences in pairwise relations affect the dynamics and evolution of each food web and thus might lead to contrasting responses to ongoing climate change.


2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 1093-1108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayantonia Franzè ◽  
James J. Pierson ◽  
Diane K. Stoecker ◽  
Peter J. Lavrentyev

2005 ◽  
pp. 183-204
Author(s):  
M. Munawar ◽  
I.F. Munawar ◽  
M. Fitzpatrick ◽  
D. Lynn

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7125-7135 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Stock ◽  
J. P. Dunne ◽  
J. G. John

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.


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