An increasing number of studies in a wide range of natural systems have investigated how pulses of resource availability influence ecological processes at individual, population, and community levels. Taken together, these studies suggest that some common processes may underlie pulsed resource dynamics in a wide diversity of systems. Developing a common framework of terms and concepts for the study of resource pulses may facilitate greater synthesis among these apparently disparate systems. Here, we propose a general definition of the resource pulse concept, outline some common patterns in the causes and consequences of resource pulses, and suggest a few key questions for future investigations. We define resource pulses as episodes of increased resource availability in space and time that combine low frequency (rarity), large magnitude (intensity), and short duration (brevity), and emphasize the importance of considering resource pulses at spatial and temporal scales relevant to specific resource-onsumer interactions. Although resource pulses are uncommon events for consumers in specific systems, our review of the existing literature suggests that pulsed resource dynamics are actually widespread phenomena in nature. Resource pulses often result from climatic and environmental factors, processes of spatiotemporal accumulation and release, outbreak population dynamics, or a combination of these factors. These events can affect life history traits and behavior at the level of individual consumers, numerical responses at the population level, and indirect effects at the community level. Consumers show strategies for utilizing ephemeral resources opportunistically, reducing resource variability by averaging over larger spatial scales, and tolerating extended interpulse periods of reduced resource availability. Resource pulses can also create persistent effects in communities through several mechanisms. We suggest that the study of resource pulses provides opportunities to understand the dynamics of many specific systems, and may also contribute to broader ecological questions at individual, population, and community levels.
Resource pulses are infrequent, large-magnitude, and short-duration events of increased resource availability. They include a diverse set of extreme events in a wide range of ecosystems, but identifying general patterns among the diversity of pulsed resource phenomena in nature remains an important challenge. Here we present a meta-analysis of resource pulse-consumer interactions that addresses four key questions: (1) Which characteristics of pulsed resources best predict their effects on consumers? (2) Which characteristics of consumers best predict their responses to resource pulses? (3) How do the effects of resource pulses differ in different ecosystems? (4) What are the indirect effects of resource pulses in communities? To investigate these questions, we built a data set of diverse pulsed resource-consumer interactions from around the world, developed metrics to compare the effects of resource pulses across disparate systems, and conducted multilevel regression analyses to examine the manner in which variation in the characteristics of resource pulseconsumer interactions affects important aspects of consumer responses.Resource pulse magnitude, resource trophic level, resource pulse duration, ecosystem type and subtype, consumer response mechanisms, and consumer body mass were found to be key explanatory factors predicting the magnitude, duration, and timing of consumer responses. Larger consumers showed more persistent responses to resource pulses, and reproductive responses were more persistent than aggregative responses. Aquatic systems showed shorter temporal lags between peaks of resource availability and consumer response compared to terrestrial systems, and temporal lags were also shorter for smaller consumers compared to larger consumers. The magnitude of consumer responses relative to their resource pulses was generally smaller for the direct consumers of primary resource pulses, compared to consumers at greater trophic distances from the initial resource pulse. In specific systems, this data set showed both attenuating and amplifying indirect effects. We consider the mechanistic processes behind these patterns and their implications for the ecology of resource pulses.
Researchers will be able to use stable isotope analysis to study community structure in an efficient way, without a need for extensive calibrations, if isotopic enrichment values are consistent, or if variation in enrichment values can be predicted. In this study, we generated an experimental data set of delta15N and delta13C enrichment means for 22 terrestrial herbivorous arthropods feeding on 18 different host plants. Mean enrichments observed across a single trophic transfer (plants to herbivores) were -0.53+/-0.26 per thousand for delta13C (range: -3.47 per thousand to 1.89 per thousand) and 1.88+/-0.37 per thousand for delta15N (range: -0.20 per thousand to 6.59 per thousand). The mean delta13C enrichment was significantly lower than that reported in recent literature surveys, whereas the mean delta15N enrichment was not significantly different. The experimental data set provided no support for recent hypotheses advanced to explain variation in enrichment values, including the proposed roles for consumer feeding mode, development type, and diet C:N ratio. A larger data set, formed by combining our experimental data with data from the literature, did suggest possible roles for feeding mode, nitrogen recycling, herbivore life stage, and host plant type. Our results indicate that species enrichment values are variable even in this relatively narrow defined group of organisms and that our ability to predict enrichment values of terrestrial herbivorous arthropods based on physiological, ecological, or taxonomic traits is low. The primary implications are that (1) mean enrichment may have to be measured empirically for each trophic link of interest, rather than relying on estimates from a broad survey of animal taxa and (2) the advantage of using stable isotope analysis to probe animal communities that are recalcitrant to other modes of study will be somewhat diminished as a consequence.
Soil salinity, measured as electroconductivity (dS m −1 ), is a major problem in crop production, including areas where entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) are applied as biological control agents. EPN species, primarily Heterorhabditis, have been isolated from coastal areas and agricultural soils with high salinity (>4.0 dS m −1 ). Given the aqueous nature of their environment, soil salinity may play an important role in EPN movement and host finding. We assessed the survival of Steinernema riobrave, S. glaseri, Heterorhabditis indica, H. sonorensis and H. bacteriophora exposed to saline soils within the range found in agricultural soils. Survival and infectivity were generally unaffected by salinities ranging from 0 to 50 dS m −1 (50 dS m −1 is similar to the salinity of seawater). Salinity had been shown to negatively impact foraging in S. riobrave so additional experiments analysing the behaviour and attraction to host cues by S. riobrave and H. indica were conducted. Agar-based behavioural assays revealed species-specific responses to salinity. At the higher salinity levels (30 and 50 dS m −1 ) movement of H. indica decreased, the path taken was more circuitous and individuals did not move toward a host. There was a strong antagonistic effect on H. indica motility and host-finding behaviour. No significant differences were observed for S. riobrave exposed to any of these salinity levels. However, under simulated field conditions, high saline conditions (30 and 50 dS m −1 ) reduced the distance both H. indica and S. riobrave travelled toward a host. Both species are used for biological control of weevil pests in orchards where salinities have been recorded up to 20 dS m −1 . Field efficacy of EPN applied for biological control in saline soils may be improved by timing applications to avoid late season build-up of salts in irrigated crops and applying the appropriate EPN species.
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