Food webs: a ladder for picking strawberries or a practical tool for practical problems?

While food webs have provided a rich vein of research material over the last 50 years, they have largely been the subject matter of the pure ecologist working in natural habitats. While there are some notable exceptions to this trend, there are, as I explain in this paper, many applied questions that could be answered using a food web approach. The paper is divided into two halves. The first half provides a brief review of six areas where food webs have begun to be used as an applied tool: restoration ecology, alien species, biological control, conservation ecology, habitat management and global warming. The second half outlines five areas in which a food web approach could prove very rewarding: urban ecology, agroecology, habitat fragmentation, cross-habitat food webs and ecosystem services.     

Short‐term temperature change may impact freshwater carbon flux: a microbial perspective

Small freshwater bodies are abundant and economically and ecologically important on a global scale. Within these, protozoa play an important role in structuring planktonic food webs and sequestering CO₂. We hypothesized that short‐term (～20 days) fluctuations, of 2–10 °C, will significantly alter carbon flux associated with predator–prey interactions within the microbial planktonic food web. We examined the model ciliate, Urotricha farcta, which is abundant and common; it was fed the autotrophic flagellate Cryptomonas sp., which is also common. Laboratory experiments were conducted over relevant ranges: 8–24 °C; 0–2 × 10⁵ prey mL^?1. Mechanistic‐phenomenological multiple regressions were developed and fit to the data to obtain relationships for (1) growth rate and volume changes of the flagellate vs. temperature and (2) growth rates, grazing, and cell volume change of the ciliate vs. temperature and prey concentration. Responses revealed interaction between temperature and prey levels on all ciliate parameters, indicating it is inappropriate to apply simple temperature corrections (e.g. Q₁₀) to such functions. The potential impact of such temperature changes on carbon flux was illustrated using a simple ciliate–flagellate predator–prey model, with and without the top grazer, Daphnia, added. The model indicated that predator–prey pulses occurred over 20 days, with the ciliate controlling the prey population. For ciliates and prey, carbon production peaked at 20 °C and rapidly decreased above and below this maximum; differences between minimum and maximum were approximately fourfold, for both prey and ciliate, with low levels at 25–30 °C and 10–15 °C. Including literature data to parameterize, the influence of the grazer Daphnia did not alter the prediction that the ciliate may control short‐term flagellate pulses and temperature will influence these in a nonintuitive fashion.     

Abundance of terrestrial gymnamoebae at a northeastern U. S. site: a four-year study, including the El Niño winter of 1997-1998

ABSTRACT. The abundance, sizes, and when appropriate, diversity of gymnamoebae were documented at approximately monthly intervals for four years (1995–1998) at a grassy, terrestrial site slightly upslope from a freshwater pond. Soil samples were analyzed for viable gymnamoebae using a standard laboratory culturing protocol. The mean density of gymnamoebae based on the total data set was ca. 1,600/g (s.e. ± 190). Minimum densities of gymnamoebae (156/g) occurred in January 1995, and a maximum for the sampling period (5,838/g) occurred in July 1997, when a rainy period followed an extended period of drought. Among the environmental variables monitored (precipitation, soil moisture, organic content, and temperature) only precipitation correlated significantly with abundance of gymnamoebae (r= 0.34 , p = 0.02 ). During the mild, moist El Niño winter of 1997–1998, a larger than usual number of gymnamoebae was recorded at the site (～3,800/g) compared to a mean density of ～900/g for comparable periods in preceding years. The mean sizes were also larger. Since gymnamoebae are increasingly recognized as major members of soil microbial communities enhancing soil fertility through nutrient mineralization, it is important to document environmental variables that influence their abundance and activity in terrestrial ecosystems.     

Individual hydrothermal vents at Axial Seamount harbor distinct subseafloor microbial communities

The microbial community structure of five geographically distinct hydrothermal vents located within the Axial Seamount caldera, Juan de Fuca Ridge, was examined over 6 years following the 1998 diking eruptive event. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) and 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses were used to determine the bacterial and archaeal diversity, and the statistical software primer v6 was used to compare vent microbiology, temperature and fluid chemistry. Statistical analysis of vent fluid temperature and composition shows that there are significant differences between vents in any year, but that the fluid composition changes over time such that no vent maintains a chemical composition completely distinct from the others. In contrast, the subseafloor microbial communities associated with individual vents changed from year to year, but each location maintained a distinct community structure (based on TRFLP and 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses) that was significantly different from all other vents included in this study. Epsilonproteobacterial microdiversity is shown to be important in distinguishing vent communities, while archaeal microdiversity is less variable between sites. We propose that persistent venting at diffuse flow vents over time creates the potential to isolate and stabilize diverse microbial community structures between vents.     

Food webs in space: On the interplay of dynamic instability and spatial processes

Ecologists increasingly recognize that a consideration of spatial dynamics is essential for resolving many classical problems in community ecology. In the present paper, I argue that understanding how trophic interactions influence population stability can have important implications for the expression of spatial processes. I use two examples to illustrate this point. The first example has to do with spatial determinants of food chain length. Prior theoretical and empirical work has suggested that colonization–extinction dynamics can influence food chain length, at least for specialist consumers. I briefly review evidence and prior theory that food chain length is sensitive to area. A metacommunity scenario, in which each of various patches can have a food chain varying in length (but in which a consumer is not present on a patch unless its required resource is also present), shows that alternative landscape states are possible. This possibility arises if top predators moderate unstable interactions between intermediate predators and basal resources. The second example has to do with the impact of recurrent immigration on the stability of persistent populations. Immigration can either stabilize or destabilize local population dynamics. Moreover, an increase in immigration can decrease average population size for unstable populations with direct density-dependence, or in predator–prey systems with saturating functional responses. These theoretical models suggest that the interplay of temporal variation and spatial fluxes can lead to novel qualitative phenomena.     

持久性有机污染物在水生食物网中的传递行为

食物网是持久性有机污染物(POPs)在水生生态系统中传递的重要途径,了解其传递行为与机制是POPs生态暴露风险评价的科学基础。从4个方面展开了讨论和分析:(1)食物网主要特征(营养级和食物链长度)与POPs环境行为的关系;(2)POPs在底栖及底栖-浮游耦合食物网中的环境行为;(3)微食物网对POPs环境行为的作用;(4)食物网的变化对POPs环境行为的影响。主要结论如下:(1)已有研究对水生生物中POPs生物放大作用存在较大争议。一般营养级越高,POPs生物富集性越强,但由于各种生态和生理性质的影响,也存在例外情况。食物链长度与POPs生物富集性呈正相关。(2)POPs通过底栖食物网将沉积物中的POPs向上传递,底栖-浮游食物网的耦合提高了高营养级消费者的暴露风险,目前就POPs在底栖食物网中的生物放大性是否大于浮游食物网存在争议。(3)微生物具有较大的比表面积,是吸附POPs的重要载体。另,沉积物中的微生物通过分解有机质,将POPs释放到水柱中。微生物降解也是环境中POPs脱离环境的重要途径。(4)在内、外压力下,食物网结构和功能发生变化,使物质和能量的传递方向和效率发生改变,并与环境理化性质的变化互相耦合,影响POPs的环境行为。当前研究的重点多集中在POPs在浮游食物网,尤其是高营养级浮游食物网中的环境行为,对POPs在底栖及底栖-浮游耦合食物网和微食物网中环境行为的研究相对缺乏。有关POPs在食物网中环境行为的研究多集中在食物网的某个部分,时间尺度较短,缺乏对POPs环境行为动态变化的研究,未来需深入开展多尺度和多角度的POPs在食物网中环境行为的动态变化研究。新型POPs的生产和使用量不断增加,但有关其在食物网中环境行为的相关分析还较为匮乏,需加强研究。     

Laboratory experiments on the impact of biofilms on the plankton of a large river

1. Benthic organisms can have a strong effect on the plankton in rivers, although normally only members of the macrofauna are considered as important consumers. In the present study we conducted experiments on four different dates (in December, March, June and September) to assess the potential role of periphytic heterotrophic flagellates (HF), ciliates and rotifers in the control of potamoplankton (bacteria, algae, HF and ciliates). 2. Natural periphyton was established on the walls of circular flow channels by exposing them to river water (River Rhine, Germany). The experimental channels (with periphyton) and control channels (without periphyton) were filled with riverine water and the increase rates of planktonic bacteria, algae, HF and oligotrich ciliates were determined for the two treatments. 3. The abundance of periphytic ciliates and rotifers at the beginning of the four experiments showed large differences with low values in December and March, and high values in June and September. Dominant potential consumers of plankton were the heterotrich ciliate Stentor sp. and bdelloid rotifers. 4. The rates of increase of planktonic algae, HF and ciliates were significantly smaller in the presence of periphyton compared with those in their absence. Significant interactions between the treatment (with and without periphyton) and the time of experiment were found for the planktonic HF and algae, indicating that the impact of the periphyton varied temporarily. The planktonic groups responded differently to the periphyton with the planktonic HF showing the highest loss rate. Significant differences were also found among the loss rates of different HF groups and different diatom size classes. 5. These laboratory experiments demonstrate that periphytic ciliates and rotifers are potentially important consumers of different planktonic groups. The quantitative impact of periphyton on plankton with respect to the selective feeding needs further attention.     

Global-scale predictions of community and ecosystem properties from simple ecological theory

We show how theoretical developments in macroecology, life-history theory and food-web ecology can be combined to formulate a simple model for predicting the potential biomass, production, size and trophic structure of consumer communities. The strength of our approach is that it uses remote sensing data to predict properties of consumer communities in environments that are challenging and expensive to sample directly. An application of the model to the marine environment on a global scale, using primary production and temperature estimates from satellite remote sensing as inputs, suggests that the global biomass of marine animals more than 10(-5) g wet weight is 2.62 x 10(9)t (=8.16 gm(-2) ocean) and production is 1.00 x 10(10) tyr-1 (31.15 gm(-2)yr(-1)). Based on the life-history theory, we propose and apply an approximation for distinguishing the relative contributions of different animal groups. Fish biomass and production, for example, are estimated as 8.99 x 10(8)t (2.80 gm(-2)) and 7.91 x 108 t yr(-1) (2.46 gm(2)yr(-1)respectively, and 50% of fish biomass is shown to occur in 17% of the total ocean area (8.22 gm(-2)). The analyses show that emerging ecological theory can be synthesized to set baselines for assessing human and climate impacts on global scales.     

A seasonal study of the carbon content of planktonic naked amoebae in the Hudson Estuary and in a productive freshwater pond with comparative data for ciliates

The total carbon contents of gymnamoebae and ciliates, dwelling in the water column of the Hudson Estuary and a highly productive freshwater pond, were monitored during a 7-month period from April through October 2006. The carbon contents of the gymnamoebae and the ciliates were greater in the pond compared with the estuary, and carbon contents of gymnamoebae were greater in the spring and autumn in both locations than those of ciliates. Given the global distribution of gymnamoebae, these results suggest that greater attention should be given to the potential role of gymnamoebae in microbial food webs.     

Microbial communities in low permeability,high pH uranium mine tailings: characterization and potential effects

Aims

To describe the diversity and metabolic potential of microbial communities in uranium mine tailings characterized by high pH, high metal concentration and low permeability.

Methods and Results

To assess microbial diversity and their potential to influence the geochemistry of uranium mine tailings using aerobic and anaerobic culture‐based methods, in conjunction with next generation sequencing and clone library sequencing targeting two universal bacterial markers (the 16S rRNA and cpn60 genes). Growth assays revealed that 69% of the 59 distinct culturable isolates evaluated were multiple‐metal resistant, with 15% exhibiting dual‐metal hypertolerance. There was a moderately positive correlation coefficient (R = 0·43, P < 0·05) between multiple‐metal resistance of the isolates and their enzyme expression profile. Of the isolates tested, 17 reduced amorphous iron, 22 reduced molybdate and seven oxidized arsenite. Based on next generation sequencing, tailings depth was shown to influence bacterial community composition, with the difference in the microbial diversity of the upper (0–20 m) and middle (20–40 m) tailings zones being highly significant (P < 0·01) from the lower zone (40–60 m) and the difference in diversity of the upper and middle tailings zone being significant (P < 0·05). Phylotypes closely related to well‐known sulfate‐reducing and iron‐reducing bacteria were identified with low abundance, yet relatively high diversity.

Conclusions

The presence of a population of metabolically‐diverse, metal‐resistant micro‐organisms within the tailings environment, along with their demonstrated capacity for transforming metal elements, suggests that these organisms have the potential to influence the long‐term geochemistry of the tailings.

Significance and Impact of the study

This study is the first investigation of the diversity and functional potential of micro‐organisms present in low permeability, high pH uranium mine tailings.     

Bryozoan populations reflect nutrient enrichment and productivity gradients in rivers

1. The hypothesis that nutrient enrichment will affect bryozoan abundance was tested using two complementary investigations; a field‐based method determining bryozoan abundance in 20 rivers of different nutrient concentrations by deploying statoblast (dormant propagule) traps and an experimental laboratory microcosm study measuring bryozoan growth and mortality. These two methods confirmed independently that increased nutrient concentrations in water promote increases in the biomass of freshwater bryozoans. 2. Statoblasts of the genus Plumatella were recorded in all rivers, regardless of nutrient concentrations, demonstrating that freshwater bryozoans are widespread. Concentrations of Plumatella statoblasts were high in rivers with high nutrient concentrations relative to those with low to moderate nutrient concentrations. Regression analyses indicated that phosphorus concentrations, in particular, significantly influenced statoblast concentrations. 3. Concentrations of Lophopus crystallinus statoblasts were also higher in sites characterised by high nutrient concentrations. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of L. crystallinus statoblasts was significantly associated with decreasing altitude and increasing phosphorus concentrations. This apparently rare species was found in nine rivers (out of 20), seven of which were new sites for L. crystallinus. 4. Growth rates of Fredericella sultana in laboratory microcosms increased with increasing nutrient concentration and high mortality rates were associated with low nutrient concentrations. 5. Our results indicate that bryozoans respond to increasing nutrient concentrations by increased growth, resulting in higher biomasses in enriched waters. We also found that an important component of bryozoan diets can derive from food items lacking chlorophyll a. Finally, bryozoans may be used as independent proxies for inferring trophic conditions, a feature that may be especially valuable in reconstructing historical environments by assessing the abundance of statoblasts in sediment cores.