基于生态通道模型的长江口水域生态系统结构与能量流动分析

利用Ecopath with Ecosim在前期研究的基础上构建了3个时期(2000年秋、2006年秋、2012年秋)长江口水域生态系统的生态通道模型,分析对比了三峡工程蓄水前中后期,长江口水域生态系统结构与能量流动特征。模型将长江口水域生态系统划分为鱼类、虾类、蟹类、头足类、底栖动物、浮游动物、浮游植物、碎屑等17个功能组,基本覆盖了长江口生态系统能量流动的主要途径。模型结果分析表明:蓄水前中后期,长江口水域生态系统各功能组营养级组成和分布相近,但由于长江口渔业过度捕捞,蓄水中后期多数功能组的生态营养转换率被动提高。长江口渔获物的组成未发生明显变化,但渔获物的平均营养级降低,渔获量减少。蓄水中后期,生态系统中牧食食物链的重要性增加,碎屑食物链的重要性降低,这与蓄水之后长江入海径流改变、泥沙量减少、陆源污染增加关系密切。结果表明,蓄水前中后期,生态系统均处于不成熟阶段,蓄水后生态系统总生物量、初级生产量及流向碎屑的能量呈降低趋势,但系统的净效率和再循环率升高。     

杭州湾北岸大型围隔海域人工生态系统的能量流动和网络分析

根据2006年在杭州湾北岸大型围隔海域进行的生态调查数据,利用EwE软件构建围隔海域人工生态系统的能量流动模型.模型由13个功能组构成,分别是肉食性鱼类、底栖捕食鱼类、浮游动物性鱼类、草食性鱼类、蟹类、虾类、软体动物、底栖动物、肉食性浮游动物、植食性浮游动物、大型藻类、浮游植物和有机碎屑,每一组都代表在生态系统中具有相似地位的有机体,基本覆盖了该人工生态系统能量流动的主要过程.能量流动分析表明,围隔海域人工生态系统中能量流动主要以碎屑食物链途径为主,其中植食性浮游动物在能量从低级向高层次转换中起关键作用.人工生态系统的营养级范围为1.00～3.90级,系统的能量流动主要有6级,来自初级生产者的能流效率为9.4%,来自碎屑的转换效率为9.8%,平均能量转换效率为9.6%.经生态网络分析,直接来源于碎屑的比例占总流量的57%,而直接来源于初级生产者的比例为43%,生态系统特征参数:总初级生产计算量/总呼吸量(TPP/TR)、系统物质和能量循环率(FCI)和系统聚合度(A)值分别为2.672、0.25、0.315,表明围隔海域人工生态系统目前正处于发育时期.该研究为首次利用Ecopath模型分析大型围隔海域人工生态系统的结构和能量流动,旨在为富营养化近岸海域的生态修复提供理论依据.     

Climate change undermines the global functioning of marine food webs

Sea water temperature affects all biological and ecological processes that ultimately impact ecosystem functioning. In this study, we examine the influence of temperature on global biomass transfers from marine secondary production to fish stocks. By combining fisheries catches in all coastal ocean areas and life‐history traits of exploited marine species, we provide global estimates of two trophic transfer parameters which determine biomass flows in coastal marine food web: the trophic transfer efficiency (TTE) and the biomass residence time (BRT) in the food web. We find that biomass transfers in tropical ecosystems are less efficient and faster than in areas with cooler waters. In contrast, biomass transfers through the food web became faster and more efficient between 1950 and 2010. Using simulated changes in sea water temperature from three Earth system models, we project that the mean TTE in coastal waters would decrease from 7.7% to 7.2% between 2010 and 2100 under the ‘no effective mitigation’ representative concentration pathway (RCP8.5), while BRT between trophic levels 2 and 4 is projected to decrease from 2.7 to 2.3 years on average. Beyond the global trends, we show that the TTEs and BRTs may vary substantially among ecosystem types and that the polar ecosystems may be the most impacted ecosystems. The detected and projected changes in mean TTE and BRT will undermine food web functioning. Our study provides quantitative understanding of temperature effects on trophodynamic of marine ecosystems under climate change.     

An ecological model of the artificial ecosystem (northern Hangzhou Bay,China): analysis of ecosystem structure and fishing impacts

The artificial ecosystem is a large-scale enclosure in northern Hangzhou Bay, China. Using the Ecopath with Ecosim software, a trophic structure model is constructed for 2006–2007 to characterize the food web structure, functioning, and describing the ecosystem impacts of fishing. Input information for the model were gathered from published and unpublished reports and from our own estimates during the period 2006–2007. Pedigree work and simple sensitivity analysis were carried out to evaluate the quality and the uncertainty of the model. Results show that the food web in the enclosed sea area was dominated by a detritus pathway. The trophic levels of the groups varied from 1.00 for primary producers and detritus to 3.90 for piscivorous fish in the artificial system. Using network analysis, the system network was mapped into a linear food chain, and five discrete trophic levels were found with a mean transfer efficiency of 9.8% from detritus, 9.4% from primary producer within the ecosystem. The geometric mean of the trophic transfer efficiencies was 9.5%. Detritus contributed 57% of the total energy flux, and the other 43% came from primary producers. The ecosystem maturity indices-TPP/TR (total primary production/total respiration), FCI (Finn cycling index), A (ascendancy) and TB/TDET were 2.672, 25%, 31.5%, and 0.013, respectively, showing that the artificial system is at developmental stage according to Odum’s theory of ecosystem development. The ‘Keystoneness’ result indicates that herbivorous zooplankton was identified as keystone species in this system. Furthermore, a simple dynamical simulation was preformed for varying fishing mortality over 10 years. The biomass of most fish groups has a small increase when the fishing mortality at current level. Increasing fishing mortality by twofold resulted in a marked decrease in biomass of piscivorous fish accompanied by an increase in that of other fish groups, notable zooplanktivorous fish. Generally, this study represents the first attempt to evaluate the food web structure and the potential effects of fisheries in the artificial coastal ecosystem. It is concluded that this model is a potential tool for use in the management of the artificial ecosystem in northern Hangzhou Bay.     

Trophic structure of macrobenthos in the Tagus estuary and adjacent coastal shelf

The trophic structure of benthic communities in the Tagus estuary and adjacent coastal shelf was characterized according to a functional guild approach, based on sampling surveys conducted between 1987 and 2000. Macrobenthic organisms were assigned to seven distinct trophic groups (herbivorous, filter feeders, surface deposit feeders, subsurface deposit feeders, carnivores, filter feeders/detritivores, carnivores/detritivores) and the dominance of these groups was related to environmental variables using multivariate ordination techniques. Surface-deposit feeders were numerically dominant in the Tagus estuary, making up 52% of the benthic communities, while in the adjacent coastal shelf the assemblage was dominated by both surface-deposit feeders and filter feeders (37% and 33%, respectively). When biomass was considered, filter feeders and filter feeders/detritivores were the dominant groups in the estuary, while for the adjacent coastal shelf filter feeders represented 83% of the total biomass. Salinity, depth and sediment composition were the main factors structuring spatial distribution. Surface-deposit feeders were the most abundant macrobenthos of the upper estuary. Surface deposit feeders also dominated the middle and the lower estuary but the proportion of filter feeders as well as other trophic groups increased with salinity. Generally, a more even distribution of trophic structure was found at stations with high salinity. In the adjacent coastal shelf, the trophic diversity decreased with depth. The trophic structure revealed that filter feeders dominated in abundance and biomass in shallow sandy sediments (<25 m), while in deeper sandy mud and muddy habitats (>50 m to 260 m), deposit feeders and carnivores were the most important groups in abundance and biomass, respectively.     

基于Ecopath模型的三门湾生态系统结构与功能

生态系统的结构决定生态系统的物质循环、能量流动和系统功能.本研究采用Ecopath模型,根据2017-2018年中国东海三门湾海洋生态实地调查数据,构建了三门湾生态系统的生态通道模型,描述了三门湾生态系统的能流结构,分析了其功能特征.结果显示:三门湾生态系统营养级范围在1～3.80,能流渠道主要表现为牧食食物链,系统能...     

Invasions and extinctions reshape coastal marine food webs

The biodiversity of ecosystems worldwide is changing because of species loss due to human-caused extinctions and species gain through intentional and accidental introductions. Here we show that the combined effect of these two processes is altering the trophic structure of food webs in coastal marine systems. This is because most extinctions ( approximately 70%) occur at high trophic levels (top predators and other carnivores), while most invasions are by species from lower trophic levels (70% macroplanktivores, deposit feeders, and detritivores). These opposing changes thus alter the shape of marine food webs from a trophic pyramid capped by a diverse array of predators and consumers to a shorter, squatter configuration dominated by filter feeders and scavengers. The consequences of the simultaneous loss of diversity at top trophic levels and gain at lower trophic levels is largely unknown. However, current research suggests that a better understanding of how such simultaneous changes in diversity can impact ecosystem function will be required to manage coastal ecosystems and forecast future changes.     

Biomass Transfer Subsidizes Nitrogen to Offshore Food Webs

We evaluated the potential contribution of allochthonous biomass subsidies to the upper trophic levels of offshore food webs in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). We made this evaluation considering nitrogen, an essential and often limiting nutrient in coastal ecosystems, to estimate the potential production of within-ecosystem biomass relative to the known import of biomass from an adjacent seagrass-dominated ecosystem. When adjusted for trophic transfer efficiency, we found the biomass subsidy from a single species (pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides) from nearshore seagrass habitat to the offshore GOM to be greater than the amount of nitrogen exported by two major rivers and local submarine ground water discharge. Our calculations show that seagrass-derived biomass accounts for approximately 25% of the total potential production in the northeastern GOM. This estimate is in agreement with a previous study that found 18.5–25% of the biomass in a predatory reef fish was derived from seagrass biomass inputs. These results indicate that all of the sources we consider account for the majority of the nitrogen available to the food web in the northeastern GOM. Our approach could be adapted to other coupled ecosystems to determine the relative importance of biomass subsidies to coastal ocean food webs.     

海州湾人工鱼礁区和河口区食物网结构与功能的比较

近年来,在快速变化的近海环境和人类活动的共同影响下,渔业资源的管理和可持续利用对保护和恢复海洋生态系统越来越重要。基于2020-2021年的渔业资源数据构建了海州湾海域人工鱼礁生态系统（ARE）和河口生态系统（EE）的生态系统能量通道模型（Ecopath）,比较和分析了两个区域食物网结构与功能的差异性和相似性。结果显示,ARE的生物量流动直接或间接来自碎屑食物链。I-III营养级占生态系统总生物量流量的97.98%以上;EE的生物量流动来自于初级生产力食物链。I-III营养级占生态系统总生物量流动的99.88%以上。浮游生物是具有自下而上控制效应的重要结构功能类群,顶级捕食者则控制着两个生态系统的自上而下的效应。总体而言,EE的Finn循环指数（FCI）、Finn平均路径长度（FMPL）、连通性指数（CI）、系统杂食性指数（SOI）和优势度/容纳量（A/C）较高,比ARE更成熟,但ARE的自由度/容纳量（O/C）和多样性指数（H）较高,食物网结构更多样化、更稳定。研究认为,人工鱼礁建设的持续进行,将有助于增强渔业资源的养护并推动海州湾生态系统走向更加成熟、稳定和健康的状态。     

黄河口邻近海域生态系统能量流动与三疣梭子蟹增殖容量估算

增殖放流是渔业资源养护的重要手段, 生态系统与放流种类能流格局的变化研究,是进行增殖容量评估的研究基础.根据2012和2013年黄河口邻近海域的资源调查数据,构建了黄河口邻近海域6、8、10月的Ecopath模型,比较分析了3个月份该海域生态系统能量流动的变化,初步评估了三疣梭子蟹的增殖容量.结果表明： 黄河口邻近海域生态系统的能量流动主要在营养级I～III之间进行,营养级IV以及以上的能量流动较小.6月第I营养级整合系统流动的比例最高,8月最低.第II营养级整合系统流动的比例8月最高,6月最低.三疣梭子蟹相对能量流动和绝对能量流动均是第III营养级最高,三疣梭子蟹的营养级3月平均为3.28.黄河口邻近海域生态系统有较高的剩余生产量,6月最高、8月最低,系统的总初级生产量/总呼吸(TPP/TR) 3个月份分别为5.49、2.47、3.01,总初级生产量/总生物量(TPP/B)分别为47.61、33.30、29.78,同时具有较低的循环指数(FCI：0.03～0.06),黄河口邻近海域生态系统处于脆弱的不稳定期.系统的能量转换效率为7.3%～11.5%;渔获物的平均营养级8月和10月有所下降,3个月份分别为3.23、2.97和2.82;总捕捞效率8月最高,6月最低.在黄河口邻近海域8月Ecopath模型基础上,初步评估三疣梭子蟹的增殖容量为1.5115 t·km^-2.     

A food web analysis of the Río de la Plata estuary and adjacent shelf ecosystem: trophic structure,biomass flows,and the role of fisheries

This article performed a comprehensive assessment of the structure and functioning of the Río de la Plata estuary and adjacent shelf ecosystem, including the effect of fishing. A formerly implemented 37 trophic groups’ mass-balance model (Ecopath) was used to (1) evaluate the particular role of individual biotic components on the ecosystem; (2) characterize the ecosystem in terms of aquatic food web theory; and (3) assess the role of diverse fishing fleets on the ecosystem. Our results indicate a trophic structure and functioning common to other estuaries, where outstanding primary production exceeds consumption, and detritus accumulates in the system. Moreover, our analysis revealed an elevated total system throughput, herbivory outweighing detritivory, and an intermediate state in terms of ecosystem growth and development. Fisheries analyses showed widespread impacts produced by industrial bottom trawl fleets, and specific impacts produced by artisanal fisheries over several groups. Unexpectedly, the evaluation of the effects of fishing showed minor ecosystem consequences by the loss of secondary production and suggests exploitation rates at sustainable levels. This study sets up the basis for temporal ecosystem-level monitoring of the state of the Río de la Plata estuary and adjacent shelf ecosystem.     

Terrestrial carbon and intraspecific size-variation shape lake ecosystems

Conceptual models of lake ecosystem structure and function have generally assumed that energy in pelagic systems is derived from in situ photosynthesis and that its use by higher trophic levels depends on the average properties of individuals in consumer populations. These views are challenged by evidence that allochthonous subsidies of organic carbon greatly influence energy mobilization and transfer and the trophic structure of pelagic food webs, and that size variation within consumer species has major ramifications for lake community dynamics and structure. These discoveries represent conceptual shifts that have yet to be integrated into current views on lake ecosystems. Here, we assess key aspects of energy mobilization and size-structured community dynamics, and show how these processes are intertwined in pelagic food webs.     

Hydrogeomorphology and river impoundment affect food-chain length of diverse Neotropical food webs

Food-chain length is a central characteristic of ecological communities that affects community structure and ecosystem function. What determines the length of food chains is not well resolved for most ecosystems. Herein, we examine environmental correlates of food-chain length based on the productivity hypothesis, compare food-chain lengths among aquatic ecosystem types and identify bi-directional effects of river impoundment on food-chain length in the Paraná River Basin of South America. Both temperature regime, a surrogate of productivity, and ecosystem type significantly affected food-chain length in independent analyses. However, when analyzed together, only ecosystem type explained significant variation in food-chain length. Food chains were longest in reservoirs, and shortest in high-gradient rivers. The proximate mechanism driving this pattern appears to be body-size ratios of primary consumers to apex predators, which differ among trophic pathways. Food chains based on phytoplankton production may have an additional size-structured link not present in food chains based on other basal sources such as detritus and algae. Hydrogeomorphology is the ultimate mechanism influencing food-chain length because it affects the relative importance of basal carbon sources supporting higher trophic levels, which through differences in the number of trophic links along the different size-structured pathways, appears to drive the observed patterns in food-chain length. We discuss a hypothesis of food-chain length that integrates energy flow and size-structure, facilitates inclusion of temporal dynamics and which is readily testable in both 'closed' and 'open' ecosystems.     

基于Ecopath模型的崂山湾人工鱼礁区生态系统结构和功能研究

基于2014—2016年青岛崂山湾人工鱼礁区的生物资源调查数据,利用Ecopath with Ecosim(EwE)软件构建崂山湾人工鱼礁区生态系统生态通道模型(Ecopath),系统分析了崂山湾人工鱼礁区生态系统的能量流动规律和结构特征,估算了栉孔扇贝的养殖容量。该模型由17个功能组组成,基本涵盖了崂山湾人工鱼礁区生态系统能量流动的主要过程。生态网络分析表明,生态系统各功能组的营养级范围为1.0—4.255,星康吉鳗占据了营养级的最高层。能量流动主要有5级,各营养级平均能量传递效率为10.8%,其中来自初级生产者的能量效率为9.8%,来自碎屑的传递效率为10.9%;系统总流量为14256.510 t km~(-2) a~(-1),其中68%的能量来自碎屑供给;系统的总初级生产量/总呼吸量为1.127,系统联结指数为0.293,杂食指数为0.333,表明崂山湾人工鱼礁区生态系统成熟度较高,食物网结构较复杂,系统内部稳定性较高。关键种指数分析结果显示,许氏平鲉具有较高的关键指数和相对总影响,表明其可能在当前生态系统中扮演重要的生态角色。吊笼养殖栉孔扇贝生态容纳量为189.679 t/km~2,在维持生态系统平衡和稳定的前提下,当前现存量最大可增加18.55%。     

Ecosystem services transcend boundaries: estuaries provide resource subsidies and influence functional diversity in coastal benthic communities

Background

Estuaries are highly productive ecosystems that can export organic matter to coastal seas (the ‘outwelling hypothesis’). However the role of this food resource subsidy on coastal ecosystem functioning has not been examined.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We investigated the influence of estuarine primary production as a resource subsidy and the influence of estuaries on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in coastal mollusk-dominated sediment communities. Stable isotope values (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) demonstrated that estuarine primary production was exported to the adjacent coast and contributed to secondary production up to 4 km from the estuary mouth. Further, isotope signatures of suspension feeding bivalves on the adjacent coast (Dosinia subrosea) closely mirrored the isotope values of the dominant bivalves inside the estuaries (Austrovenus stutchburyi), indicating utilization of similar organic matter sources. However, the food subsidies varied between estuaries; with estuarine suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) dominant at Tairua estuary, while seagrass and fringing vegetation detritus was proportionately more important at Whangapoua estuary, with lesser contributions of estuarine SPOM. Distance from the estuary mouth and the size and density of large bivalves (Dosinia spp.) had a significant influence on the composition of biological traits in the coastal macrobenthic communities, signaling the potential influence of these spatial subsidies on ecosystem functioning.

Conclusions/Significance

Our study demonstrated that the locations where ecosystem services like productivity are generated are not necessarily where the services are utilized. Further, we identified indirect positive effects of the nutrient subsidies on biodiversity (the estuarine subsidies influenced the bivalves, which in turn affected the diversity and functional trait composition of the coastal sediment macrofaunal communities). These findings highlight the importance of integrative ecosystem-based management that maintains the connectivity of estuarine and coastal ecosystems.     

Spartina alterniflora invasions in the Yangtze River estuary,China: An overview of current status and ecosystem effects

The Yangtze River estuary is an important ecoregion. However, Spartina alterniflora, native to North America, was introduced to the estuary in the 1990s through both natural dispersal and humans and now it is a dominant species in the estuarine ecosystems, with its invasions leading to multiple consequences to the estuary. S. alterniflora had great competitive effects on native species, including Scirpus mariqueter and Phragmites australis, and could potentially exclude the natives locally. The presence of S. alterniflora had little influence on the total density of soil nematodes and macrobenthonic invertebrates, but significantly altered the structure of trophic functional groups of nematode and macrobenthonic invertebrate communities. The conversion of mudflats to Spartina meadows had significant effects on birds of Charadriidae and Scolopacidae, which might be attributable to the reduction of food resources and the physical alterations of habitats for shorebirds. S. alterniflora invasions increased the primary productivity of the invaded ecosystems, and altered carbon and nitrogen cycling processes. Our studies focused mainly on the effects of S. alterniflora invasions on the structure of native ecosystems; thus further studies are clearly needed to investigate how ecosystem functioning is affected by the modification of the structure of estuarine ecosystems by S. alterniflora invasions.     

Structure and functioning of two pelagic communities in the North Chilean Patagonian coastal system

The size composition of primary producers is important for how energy is channeled through a food web and on to the higher trophic levels and eventually to fisheries. To evaluate this, we studied the productive patterns for large (micro) versus small (nano) phytoplankton in two south marine Patagonian ecosystems: The Inner Sea of Chiloe—ISCh and, Moraleda Channel—MCh. We built Ecopath models (EwE), and evaluated the hypothesis that the overall primary productivity—rather than the ratio of large to small primary producers—constitutes an adequate proxy for predicting the amount of secondary and tertiary production and biomass (up to the fisheries). The EwE model included four small-scale fisheries and 36 functional groups. The functioning of both ecosystems was similar but the ecosystem parameters (biomass, energy transfer efficiencies from primary producers, secondary, and tertiary production) were twice as much in the basin with more microphytoplankton biomass. Overall, the hypothesis was rejected, albeit it was possible to highlight the importance of the quality and size spectrum of plankton on the structure of marine ecosystem, and to demonstrate the key role of the microbial loop over traditional food web in the functioning of the carbon biological pump in Patagonia ecosystems.     

Analysis of temperature variation characteristics in the three gorges reservoir area after impoundment of the three gorges dam

The construction of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) at the end of the upper reach of the Yangtze River results in a great belt-shape of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) in China. Thus the atmospheric problems related to the TGR have attracted substantial interest from most meteorologists around the world. To understand the regional temperature changes in the TGR area since the impoundment of the TGD in June 2003, temperature data from 32 meteorological stations in the TGR area during 1961—2014 period were collected, and the trends in the temperature changes in the past 20 years, including years before and after impoundment of the TGD, were analysed by the methods of cumulative anomaly analysis, moving average, and linear regression analysis. The results showed that the annual mean temperature over the TGR area showed a slight overall upward trend in the past 54 years, and the temperature rose substantially at the period between 1985 and 2014. After impoundment, a warming trend was obvious in the TGR area. The monthly mean temperature after impoundment was higher than that before impoundment.