Coupled changes in traits and biomasses cascading through a tritrophic plankton food web
- Trait-based approaches have broadened our understanding of how the composition of ecological communities responds to environmental drivers. This research has mainly focussed on abiotic factors and competition determining the community trait distribution, while effects of trophic interactions on trait dynamics, if considered at all, have been studied for two trophic levels at maximum. However, natural food webs are typically at least tritrophic. This enables indirect interactions of traits and biomasses among multiple trophic levels leading to underexplored effects on food web dynamics. Here, we demonstrate the occurrence of mutual trait adjustment among three trophic levels in a natural plankton food web (Lake Constance) and in a corresponding mathematical model. We found highly recurrent seasonal biomass and trait dynamics, where herbivorous zooplankton increased its size, and thus its ability to counter phytoplankton defense, before phytoplankton defense actually increased. This is contrary to predictions from bitrophic systemsTrait-based approaches have broadened our understanding of how the composition of ecological communities responds to environmental drivers. This research has mainly focussed on abiotic factors and competition determining the community trait distribution, while effects of trophic interactions on trait dynamics, if considered at all, have been studied for two trophic levels at maximum. However, natural food webs are typically at least tritrophic. This enables indirect interactions of traits and biomasses among multiple trophic levels leading to underexplored effects on food web dynamics. Here, we demonstrate the occurrence of mutual trait adjustment among three trophic levels in a natural plankton food web (Lake Constance) and in a corresponding mathematical model. We found highly recurrent seasonal biomass and trait dynamics, where herbivorous zooplankton increased its size, and thus its ability to counter phytoplankton defense, before phytoplankton defense actually increased. This is contrary to predictions from bitrophic systems where counter-defense of the consumer is a reaction to prey defense. In contrast, counter-defense of carnivores by size adjustment followed the defense of herbivores as expected. By combining observations and model simulations, we show how the reversed trait dynamics at the two lower trophic levels result from a "trophic biomass-trait cascade" driven by the carnivores. Trait adjustment between two trophic levels can therefore be altered by biomass or trait changes of adjacent trophic levels. Hence, analyses of only pairwise trait adjustment can be misleading in natural food webs, while multitrophic trait-based approaches capture indirect biomass-trait interactions among multiple trophic levels.…
Author details: | Elias EhrlichORCiDGND, Ursula GaedkeORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11466 |
ISSN: | 0024-3590 |
ISSN: | 1939-5590 |
Title of parent work (English): | Limnology and oceanography |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Place of publishing: | Hoboken |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2020/05/18 |
Publication year: | 2020 |
Release date: | 2022/10/17 |
Tag: | community ecology; cyclops vicinus; dynamics; functional traits; lake; life-cycle; natural rotifer; phytoplankton; trophic cascades; zooplankton |
Volume: | 65 |
Issue: | 10 |
Number of pages: | 13 |
First page: | 2502 |
Last Page: | 2514 |
Funding institution: | German Research Foundation (DFG)German Research Foundation (DFG) [GA; 401/26-1/2]; Project DEAL |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 55 Geowissenschaften, Geologie / 550 Geowissenschaften | |
5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie | |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Hybrid Open-Access |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |