Warming modifies trophic cascades and eutrophication in experimental freshwater communities

Kratina, Pavel; Greig, Hamish S.; Thompson, Patrick L.; Carvalho-Pereira, Ticiana; Shurin, Jonathan B.

doi:10.1890/11-1595.1

Cited by 250 publications

(269 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Warming induces inverse enrichment effects in size-structured communities leading to lower biomass densities and dampened oscillations. Surprisingly, classic paradox of enrichment effects can thus be diminished by warming, which is consistent with recent experimental data [83]. However, the stabilizing effects of warming are much more pronounced in size-structured (consumers larger than their resources) compared with unstructured communities (consumer and resources similarly sized) [11].…”

Section: Warming and Bottom-up Controlsupporting

confidence: 88%

Climate change in size-structured ecosystems

Brose

Dunne

Montoya

et al. 2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

175

170

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One important aspect of climate change is the increase in average temperature, which will not only have direct physiological effects on all species but also indirectly modifies abundances, interaction strengths, food-web topologies, community stability and functioning. In this theme issue, we highlight a novel pathway through which warming indirectly affects ecological communities: by changing their size structure (i.e. the body-size distributions). Warming can shift these distributions towards dominance of small-over large-bodied species. The conceptual, theoretical and empirical research described in this issue, in sum, suggests that effects of temperature may be dominated by changes in size structure, with relatively weak direct effects. For example, temperature effects via size structure have implications for top-down and bottom-up control in ecosystems and may ultimately yield novel communities. Moreover, scaling up effects of temperature and body size from physiology to the levels of populations, communities and ecosystems may provide a crucially important mechanistic approach for forecasting future consequences of global warming.

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Section: Warming and Bottom-up Controlsupporting

confidence: 88%

Climate change in size-structured ecosystems

Brose

Dunne

Montoya

et al. 2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

175

170

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Warming should therefore increase consumption by herbivores more strongly than primary production. This can strengthen topdown control over primary production by increasing grazing rates under warmer conditions, as has been shown in marine and freshwater experimental studies (Kratina et al 2012;O'Connor et al 2009;Sommer and Lewandowska 2011).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…The strong temperature effect on peak magnitude of copepods is therefore likely an artifact of delayed development in the cold treatments and limited duration of the experiment. Despite this methodological shortcoming, enhanced topdown control can be expected at increased temperature given sufficient food supply as shown in long-term freshwater experiments (Kratina et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spring phenological responses of marine and freshwater plankton to changing temperature and light conditions

et al. 2012

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Shifts in the timing and magnitude of the spring plankton bloom in response to climate change have been observed across a wide range of aquatic systems. We used meta-analysis to investigate phenological responses of marine and freshwater plankton communities in mesocosms subjected to experimental manipulations of temperature and light intensity. Systems differed with respect to the dominant mesozooplankton (copepods in seawater and daphnids in freshwater). Higher water temperatures advanced the bloom timing of most functional plankton groups in both marine and freshwater systems. In contrast to timing, responses of bloom magnitudes were more variable among taxa and systems and were influenced by light intensity and trophic interactions. Increased light levels increased the magnitude of the spring peaks of most phytoplankton taxa and of total phytoplankton biomass. Intensified size-selective grazing of copepods in warming scenarios affected phytoplankton size structure and lowered intermediate (20-200 lm)-sized phytoplankton in marine systems. In contrast, plankton peak magnitudes in freshwater systems were unaffected by temperature, but decreased at lower light intensities, suggesting that filter feeding daphnids are sensitive to changes in algal carrying capacity as mediated by light supply. Our analysis confirms the general shift toward earlier blooms at increased temperature in both marine and freshwater systems and supports predictions that effects of climate change on plankton production will vary among sites, depending on resource limitation and species composition.

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“…Moreover, the interactive effects, both from genetic variation at two trophic levels and from genetic variation interacting with fish presence, were at least as strong as many of the direct effects of predator presence alone. These findings are noteworthy, given the well-documented impacts of fish on many aspects of freshwater ecosystems and particularly as a driver of trophic cascades [12,29,34]. Our study posits that the role of genetic and phenotypic variation has been under-appreciated in aquatic food web context and warrants further consideration moving forward.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Adaptive genetic variation mediates bottom-up and top-down control in an aquatic ecosystem

et al. 2015

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Research in eco-evolutionary dynamics and community genetics has demonstrated that variation within a species can have strong impacts on associated communities and ecosystem processes. Yet, these studies have centred around individual focal species and at single trophic levels, ignoring the role of phenotypic variation in multiple taxa within an ecosystem. Given the ubiquitous nature of local adaptation, and thus intraspecific variation, we sought to understand how combinations of intraspecific variation in multiple species within an ecosystem impacts its ecology. Using two species that co-occur and demonstrate adaptation to their natal environments, black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) and three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), we investigated the effects of intraspecific phenotypic variation on both top-down and bottom-up forces using a large-scale aquatic mesocosm experiment. Black cottonwood genotypes exhibit genetic variation in their productivity and consequently their leaf litter subsidies to the aquatic system, which mediates the strength of top-down effects from stickleback on prey abundances. Abundances of four common invertebrate prey species and available phosphorous, the most critically limiting nutrient in freshwater systems, are dictated by the interaction between genetic variation in cottonwood productivity and stickleback morphology. These interactive effects fit with ecological theory on the relationship between productivity and topdown control and are comparable in strength to the effects of predator addition. Our results illustrate that intraspecific variation, which can evolve rapidly, is an under-appreciated driver of community structure and ecosystem function, demonstrating that a multi-trophic perspective is essential to understanding the role of evolution in structuring ecological patterns.

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Warming modifies trophic cascades and eutrophication in experimental freshwater communities

Cited by 250 publications

References 51 publications

Climate change in size-structured ecosystems

Climate change in size-structured ecosystems

Spring phenological responses of marine and freshwater plankton to changing temperature and light conditions

Adaptive genetic variation mediates bottom-up and top-down control in an aquatic ecosystem

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