Consumer-resource Dynamics Research Articles

Panmictic and Clonal Evolution on a Single Patchy Resource Produces Polymorphic Foraging Guilds.

We develop a stochastic, agent-based model to study how genetic traits and experiential changes in the state of agents and available resources influence individuals’ foraging and movement behaviors. These behaviors are manifest as decisions on when to stay and exploit a current resource patch or move to a particular neighboring patch, based on information of the resource qualities of the patches and the anticipated level of intraspecific competition within patches. We use a genetic algorithm approach and an individual’s biomass as a fitness surrogate to explore the foraging strategy diversity of evolving guilds under clonal versus hermaphroditic sexual reproduction. We first present the resource exploitation processes, movement on cellular arrays, and genetic algorithm components of the model. We then discuss their implementation on the Nova software platform. This platform seamlessly combines the dynamical systems modeling of consumer-resource interactions with agent-based modeling of individuals moving over a landscapes, using an architecture that lays transparent the following four hierarchical simulation levels: 1.) within-patch consumer-resource dynamics, 2.) within-generation movement and competition mitigation processes, 3.) across-generation evolutionary processes, and 4.) multiple runs to generate the statistics needed for comparative analyses. The focus of our analysis is on the question of how the biomass production efficiency and the diversity of guilds of foraging strategy types, exploiting resources over a patchy landscape, evolve under clonal versus random hermaphroditic sexual reproduction. Our results indicate greater biomass production efficiency under clonal reproduction only at higher population densities, and demonstrate that polymorphisms evolve and are maintained under random mating systems. The latter result questions the notion that some type of associative mating structure is needed to maintain genetic polymorphisms among individuals exploiting a common patchy resource on an otherwise spatially homogeneous landscape.

Herbivore population regulation and resource heterogeneity in a stochastic environment.

Large-mammal herbivore populations are subject to the interaction of internal density-dependent processes and external environmental stochasticity. We disentangle these processes by linking consumer population dynamics, in a highly stochastic environment, to the availability of their key forage resource via effects on body condition and subsequent fecundity and mortality rates. Body condition and demographic rate data were obtained by monitoring 500 tagged female goats in the Richtersveld National Park, South Africa, over a three-year period. Identifying the key resource and pathway to density dependence for a population allows environmental stochasticity to be partitioned into that which has strong feedbacks to population stability, and that which does not. Our data reveal a density- dependent seasonal decline in goat body condition in response to concomitant density-dependent depletion of the dry-season forage resource. The loss in body condition reduced density-dependent pregnancy rates, litter sizes, and pre-weaning survival. Survival was lowest following the most severe dry season and for juveniles. Adult survival in the late-dry season depended on body condition in the mid-dry season. Population growth was determined by the length of the dry season and the population size in the previous year. The RNP goat population is thereby dynamically coupled primarily to its dry-season forage resource. Extreme environmental variability thus does not decouple consumer resource dynamics, in contrast to the views of nonequilibrium protagonists.

Population‐level responses of stream macroinvertebrates to drying can be density‐independent or density‐dependent

Summary The frequency and intensity of droughts and stream drying are likely to increase with climate change, but how freshwater macroinvertebrate populations respond to such disturbances is poorly understood. Theory predicts that stochastic disturbances should generate density‐independent mortality, but density dependence is possible if mortality arises indirectly through changes in consumer–resource dynamics, or if mortality is mediated by disturbance refugia. Empirical evidence for density‐dependent or density‐independent mortality in freshwater invertebrates is scarce, but important to predict how population sizes will alter with changing climate. In a stream mesocosm experiment, we tested whether short‐term drying events (5–6 days) resulted in population losses of macroinvertebrates, and whether any losses were density‐dependent or density‐independent. On each of 10 replicate drying events over a year and over a naturally occurring range of invertebrate densities, we measured pre‐ and post‐disturbance densities. From these data, we calculated per capita mortality rates, tested statistically for associations between mortality rates and pre‐disturbance densities, and assessed whether mortality differed seasonally. Invertebrate assemblages in the channels were derived from a chalk stream in south‐west England. Analyses focussed on 12 core taxa that were common in the community, which included a taxonomically diverse group of worms, Gastropoda, Gammaridae, Diptera, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera. Responses to drying were species‐specific and three different response types were observed. Half of the taxa were resistant to drying and there was no apparent mortality, even in the near‐total loss of free water (Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Bezzia sp., Chironomini, Radix balthica and two groups of Naididae). Four taxa showed density‐independent mortality (Polycentropus flavomaculatus, Tanypodinae, Gammarus pulex, Baetis scambus), but differed in vulnerability with per capita loss rates ranging from 57 to 100%. Strong evidence of density‐dependent mortality was observed in Orthocladiinae and suggested also for Tanytarsini. Mortality varied seasonally for only one taxon (Tanytarsini), with higher mortality in warm versus cool months. Particular response types were not necessarily associated with particular taxonomic groups or body shapes. This range of responses to drying by different, naturally co‐occurring, populations suggests that community‐level impacts of drying are underpinned by diverse, taxon‐specific responses. The experiment provides some support for theoretical predictions of density‐independent mortality, but also some of the first evidence that disturbance refugia can result in density‐dependent mortality.

Consumption threshold used to investigate stability and ecological dominance in consumer-resource dynamics

Understanding consumer resource population dynamics can be important to an understanding of the overall ecology of systems. For example, the tree-grass continuum dynamics of savannas, an important ecological biome, is influenced by the population dynamics. Here we investigate herbivory driven population dynamics of a savanna using a simple model of the interactions of the dominant players, namely: trees, grasses, browsers, grazers and mixed browsers-grazers. We introduce a consumption threshold that summarises some of the parameters and this is used as a guide to understanding the dynamics. This number is used in investigating system stability and sensitivity to parameter fluctuations. It is also used to identify degrees of ecological dominance.

Climate-based models for pulsed resources improve predictability of consumer population dynamics: outbreaks of house mice in forest ecosystems.

Accurate predictions of the timing and magnitude of consumer responses to episodic seeding events (masts) are important for understanding ecosystem dynamics and for managing outbreaks of invasive species generated by masts. While models relating consumer populations to resource fluctuations have been developed successfully for a range of natural and modified ecosystems, a critical gap that needs addressing is better prediction of resource pulses. A recent model used change in summer temperature from one year to the next (ΔT) for predicting masts for forest and grassland plants in New Zealand. We extend this climate-based method in the framework of a model for consumer–resource dynamics to predict invasive house mouse (Mus musculus) outbreaks in forest ecosystems. Compared with previous mast models based on absolute temperature, the ΔT method for predicting masts resulted in an improved model for mouse population dynamics. There was also a threshold effect of ΔT on the likelihood of an outbreak occurring. The improved climate-based method for predicting resource pulses and consumer responses provides a straightforward rule of thumb for determining, with one year’s advance warning, whether management intervention might be required in invaded ecosystems. The approach could be applied to consumer–resource systems worldwide where climatic variables are used to model the size and duration of resource pulses, and may have particular relevance for ecosystems where global change scenarios predict increased variability in climatic events.

Bottom-up responses of the lower oceanic food web are sensitive to copepod mortality and feeding behavior

The functional response, describing consumption rate as a function of food abundance, critically links consumer-resource dynamics. Yet, little is known about how its shape affects communities of multiple, dynamically linked species. We theoretically investigated how the functional response of copepods (saturating type 2 vs. sigmoidal type 3, both of which have been observed) mediates bottom-up and top-down influences on the lower oceanic food web as described by five compartments (“pentagon web”): a shared limiting nutrient, small and large algae, ciliates feeding on small algae, and copepods feeding on ciliates and large algae. We compare system dynamics in response to nutrient enrichment and copepod mortality, the latter being varied first directly and then indirectly through inclusion of planktivores (fish or jellyfish). Regardless of functional response type, when planktivores are absent, equilibrium densities of all members of the even food chain (nutrients-small algae-ciliates-copepods) typically increase with nutrient enrichment whereas large algae decrease. In contrast, and congruent with conventional wisdom, large algae increase with nutrient enrichment when copepods are controlled by planktivores. A type 2 response in copepods strongly destabilizes the pentagon web, whereas stable equilibria are possible when copepods have a type 3 response. High copepod mortality (e.g., caused by increasing planktivore pressure under nutrient enrichment) destabilizes such systems, however. Moreover, because community feedbacks produce a negative correlation between the copepod's alternative prey, type 3 switching behavior is amplified in the pentagon web. This prevents extinctions but can give rise to an alternative state with small algal dominance at high enrichment.

Effects of temperature on consumer-resource interactions.

Understanding how temperature variation influences the negative (e.g. self-limitation) and positive (e.g. saturating functional responses) feedback processes that characterize consumer-resource interactions is an important research priority. Previous work on this topic has yielded conflicting outcomes with some studies predicting that warming should increase consumer-resource oscillations and others predicting that warming should decrease consumer-resource oscillations. Here, I develop a consumer-resource model that both synthesizes previous findings in a common framework and yields novel insights about temperature effects on consumer-resource dynamics. I report three key findings. First, when the resource species' birth rate exhibits a unimodal temperature response, as demonstrated by a large number of empirical studies, the temperature range over which the consumer-resource interaction can persist is determined by the lower and upper temperature limits to the resource species' reproduction. This contrasts with the predictions of previous studies, which assume that the birth rate exhibits a monotonic temperature response, that consumer extinction is determined by temperature effects on consumer species' traits, rather than the resource species' traits. Secondly, the comparative analysis I have conducted shows that whether warming leads to an increase or decrease in consumer-resource oscillations depends on the manner in which temperature affects intraspecific competition. When the strength of self-limitation increases monotonically with temperature, warming causes a decrease in consumer-resource oscillations. However, if self-limitation is strongest at temperatures physiologically optimal for reproduction, a scenario previously unanalysed by theory but amply substantiated by empirical data, warming can cause an increase in consumer-resource oscillations. Thirdly, the model yields testable comparative predictions about consumer-resource dynamics under alternative hypotheses for how temperature affects competitive and resource acquisition traits. Importantly, it does so through empirically quantifiable metrics for predicting temperature effects on consumer viability and consumer-resource oscillations, which obviates the need for parameterizing complex dynamical models. Tests of these metrics with empirical data on a host-parasitoid interaction yield realistic estimates of temperature limits for consumer persistence and the propensity for consumer-resource oscillations, highlighting their utility in predicting temperature effects, particularly warming, on consumer-resource interactions in both natural and agricultural settings.

The functional response predicts the effect of resource distribution on the optimal movement rate of consumers.

Understanding how often individuals should move when foraging over patchy habitats is a central question in ecology. By combining optimality and functional response theories, we show analytically how the optimal movement rate varies with the average resource level (enrichment) and resource distribution (patch heterogeneity). We find that the type of functional response predicts the effect of enrichment in homogeneous habitats: enrichment should decrease movement for decelerating functional responses, but increase movement for accelerating responses. An intermediate resource level thus maximises movement for type-III responses. Counterintuitively, greater movement costs favour an increase in movement. In heterogeneous habitats predictions further depend on how enrichment alters the variance of resource distribution. Greater patch variance always increases the optimal rate of movement, except for type-IV functional responses. While the functional response is well established as a fundamental determinant of consumer-resource dynamics, our results indicate its importance extends to the understanding of individual movement strategies.

A newly discovered role of evolution in previously published consumer–resource dynamics

Consumer-resource interactions are fundamental components of ecological communities. Classic features of consumer-resource models are that temporal dynamics are often cyclic, with a ¼-period lag between resource and consumer population peaks. However, there are few published empirical examples of this pattern. Here, we show that many published examples of consumer-resource cycling show instead patterns indicating eco-evolutionary dynamics. When prey evolve along a trade-off between defence and competitive ability, two-species consumer-resource cycles become longer and antiphase (half-period lag, so consumer maxima coincide with minima of the resource species). Using stringent criteria, we identified 21 two-species consumer-resource time series, published between 1934 and 1997, suitable to investigate for eco-evolutionary dynamics. We developed a statistical method to probe for a transition from classic to eco-evolutionary cycles, and find evidence for eco-evolutionary type cycles in about half of the studies. We show that rapid prey evolution is the most likely explanation for the observed patterns.

Ecological implications of altered fish foraging after exposure to an antidepressant pharmaceutical

Pharmaceutical residues are increasingly detected in environmental and biological samples, some at levels known to adversely affect non-target organisms; however, less is known of how these organism-level effects relate to the ecology of aquatic systems. Foraging processes may be used as behavioral endpoints that link effects on individuals to the population and community levels, enabling risk assessment of environmental contaminants at larger ecological scales. In this study, we performed feeding trials using juvenile Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis) exposed to the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) sertraline to test the hypothesis that sertraline alters foraging ecology of the fish in terms of their functional response. We found an exposure-dependent decrease in feeding with increasing sertraline concentrations. Further experiments revealed that feeding rates decrease at both low and high prey densities, indicating effects on both attack rate and handling time, respectively. Because the functional response can shape consumer-resource dynamics, such effects may alter the stability of predator–prey systems and consequently, community structure.

Temperature dependence of trophic interactions are driven by asymmetry of species responses and foraging strategy

Environmental temperature has systematic effects on rates of species interactions, primarily through its influence on organismal physiology. We present a mechanistic model for the thermal response of consumer-resource interactions. We focus on how temperature affects species interactions via key traits - body velocity, detection distance, search rate and handling time - that underlie per capita consumption rate. The model is general because it applies to all foraging strategies: active-capture (both consumer and resource body velocity are important), sit-and-wait (resource velocity dominates) and grazing (consumer velocity dominates). The model predicts that temperature influences consumer-resource interactions primarily through its effects on body velocity (either of the consumer, resource or both), which determines how often consumers and resources encounter each other, and that asymmetries in the thermal responses of interacting species can introduce qualitative, not just quantitative, changes in consumer-resource dynamics. We illustrate this by showing how asymmetries in thermal responses determine equilibrium population densities in interacting consumer-resource pairs. We test for the existence of asymmetries in consumer-resource thermal responses by analysing an extensive database on thermal response curves of ecological traits for 309 species spanning 15 orders of magnitude in body size from terrestrial, marine and freshwater habitats. We find that asymmetries in consumer-resource thermal responses are likely to be a common occurrence. Overall, our study reveals the importance of asymmetric thermal responses in consumer-resource dynamics. In particular, we identify three general types of asymmetries: (i) different levels of performance of the response, (ii) different rates of response (e.g. activation energies) and (iii) different peak or optimal temperatures. Such asymmetries should occur more frequently as the climate changes and species' geographical distributions and phenologies are altered, such that previously noninteracting species come into contact. 6. By using characteristics of trophic interactions that are often well known, such as body size, foraging strategy, thermy and environmental temperature, our framework should allow more accurate predictions about the thermal dependence of consumer-resource interactions. Ultimately, integration of our theory into models of food web and ecosystem dynamics should be useful in understanding how natural systems will respond to current and future temperature change.

Indirect bottom‐up control of consumer‐resource dynamics: Resource‐driven algal quality alters grazer numerical response

The nature of the growth‐rate response of grazing zooplankton to algal concentration depends critically upon food quality, which is often a plastic function of environmental conditions. Phytoplankton quality depends upon nutrient and light availability, which together affect cell C : P and C : N, so that the links from external environment to phytoplankton and then to zooplankton can vary in ways that influence consumer‐resource interaction strengths, and ultimately, food web structure. We measured the effects of resource‐limitation on the population growth rate of rotifers, Brachionus calyciflorus, feeding on the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and grown in nitrogen‐limiting, phosphorus‐limiting, or nutrient‐sufficient conditions. Consumption of nutrient‐sufficient algae produced a Type II numerical response with a low half saturation constant (Ks) and high asymptotic growth rate (λmax) consistent with high food quality; P‐limited algae also yielded a Type II response but with high Ks and low λmax, meaning poor food quality. In contrast, N‐limited Chlamydomonas resulted in a novel Type IV numerical response in which rotifer growth rate rose to an intermediate λmax and then declined at the highest algal densities, suggesting the production of toxic compounds whose negative effect on growth increases as a function of cell density. Experiments with mixed diets confirmed that N‐limited food was indeed toxic, whereas P‐limited food was simply nutritionally deficient compared with light‐limited algae. Additional experiments showed that even the filtrate of N‐limited algae can be detrimental to rotifer growth.

MODELING TOXIC STRESS BY ATRAZINE IN A MARINE CONSUMER‐RESOURCE SYSTEM

The present study combines short-term experiments with food chain modeling to explore the long-term effects of the herbicide atrazine on consumer-resource dynamics in a marine intertidal ecosystem. Short-term (28 d) lab experiments indicated that the intrinsic rate of increase (r) and carrying capacity (K) of the marine diatom Seminavis robusta decreased with increasing atrazine exposure. This decrease did not show the concave shape expected from the lifetime productivity for nonexposed diatoms and from single-species toxicity data in the literature but instead was described best by a linear model. These experimentally observed atrazine-induced decreases of r and K were used to parameterize a Rosenzweig-MacArthur model representing a simple food chain including the tested diatom and its grazer, the harpacticoid copepod Delavalia palustris var. palustris. Stable oscillation zoo-phytobenthos systems were produced at diatom exposures of 0, 100, and 150 µg/L atrazine. An atrazine concentration of 150 µg/L contributed to a 15% increase of the oscillation periods of both diatoms and copepods as well as a 52% reduction of oscillation amplitudes compared with the control situation. Although the amplitudes of copepods increased only 7% at 150 µg/L atrazine, the maximum and minimum copepod densities at that concentration were reduced 61 and 63%, respectively. The effects of atrazine on periodicity and amplitudes were robust to 20% changes in the food-chain model parameters that represented allometric relationships. The simulations in the present study suggest food chain-mediated indirect effects on zoobenthos populations, indicating a reduced diatom and copepod availability throughout the year.

Consumer–resource dynamics of indirect interactions in a mutualism–parasitism food web module

Food web dynamics are well known to vary with indirect interactions, classic examples including apparent competition, intraguild predation, exploitative competition, and trophic cascades of food chains. Such food web mod- ules entailing predation and competition have been the focus of much theory, whereas modules involving mutualism have received far less attention. We examined an empirically common food web module involving mutualistic (N2) and parasitic (N3) consumers exploiting a resource of a basal mutualist (N1), as illustrated by plants, pollinators, and nectar robbers. This mutualism-parasitism food web mod- ule is structurally similar to exploitative competition, suggesting that the module of two consumers exploiting a resource is unstable. Rather than parasitic consumers destabilizing the module through (−,−) indirect interactions, two mechanisms associated with the mutualism can actually enhance the persistence of the module. First, the positive feedback of mutualism favors coexistence in stable limit cycles, whereby (+,−) indirect interactions emerge in which increases in N2 have positive effects on N3 and increases in N3 have negative effects on N2 .T his (+,−) indirect interaction arising from the saturatingpositivefeedbackof mutualism has broad feasibility across many types of food web modules entailing mutualism. Second, optimization of resource exploi- tation by the mutualistic consumer can lead to persistence of the food web module in a stable equilibrium. The mutualism- parasitism food web module is a basic unit of food webs in which mutualism favors its persistence simply through density-dependent population dynamics, rather than parasit- ism destabilizing the module.

Indirect and mitigated effects of pulsed resources on the population dynamics of a northern rodent

Pulsed resources have significant effects on population and community dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. Mast seeding is an important resource pulse in deciduous forests; these boom and bust cycles of seed production generate strong lagged population responses by post-dispersal seed predators such as rodents, which then cascade through multiple trophic levels and regulate population dynamics of their predators and prey. However, similar interactions in another major pulsed system, coniferous forests, are inconsistent, and the effects of interannual variation in conifer seed production on many consumer populations are largely unknown. We used large-scale manipulation and intensive monitoring to examine the population dynamics of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in relation to fall seed production by two northern conifers, white spruce (Picea glauca) and subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). Previous studies have shown that spruce seeds are a preferred food source of mice, while fir seeds are generally avoided if other foods are available. Therefore, we expected that there would be a positive relationship between mouse demography and previous spruce seed production, but no effect of fir mast seeding. Supplementation of a mouse population using spruce seeds indicated that increased fall spruce seed availability can enhance overwinter survival and population densities in the following spring, summer, and fall. However, long-term population monitoring indicated that mouse demography was not positively affected by spruce mast seeding, likely due to strong interspecific competition with the North American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudoniscus), a dominant pre-dispersal spruce seed predator. Conversely, we observed an unexpected delayed effect of fir mast seeding, where increased fall fir seed production did not influence overwinter or spring mouse demography, but instead enhanced summer survival, body masses and pregnancy rates of overwintered adults. This led to increased summer population densities and may have been mediated by population responses of invertebrate post-dispersal seed predators to increased fir seed availability. Our results indicate that rodent responses to resource pulses in coniferous forests are more complex than in deciduous environments and reveal previously unobserved direct and indirect consumer-resource dynamics that require further examination. This system is ideal for the large-scale, integrative ecosystem studies that ecologists are encouraged to pursue.

Temperature‐induced mismatches between consumption and metabolism reduce consumer fitness

As physiological processes of ectotherms are coupled to environmental temperature, climate change will likely alter their fundamental biological rates, including metabolism, consumption, growth, and reproduction. Here we combine the metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) with metabolism and consumption measurements of a model organism, the urchin Lytechinus variegatus, to test how climate change will affect consumer fitness. Unexpectedly, we found that metabolism and consumption exhibit different scaling relationships with temperature and are mismatched at high temperatures. This led to a dramatic reduction in ingestion efficiency and potentially in consumer fitness. Using metaanalysis, we showed that such temperature-driven mismatches between consumption and metabolism are common across taxa and frequently lead to reduced consumer fitness. Our empirical and synthetic analyses identify a mechanism by which climate change reduces the fitness of ectotherm consumers that may be applied to a broad array of taxonomic groups. Moreover, we showed that the assumptions of MTE do not hold at temperatures near the upper range of species' thermal tolerances for a wide array of taxa. Models using MTE to predict the effects of climate change on consumer-resource dynamics may therefore be underestimating the consequences of rising temperatures on population and community dynamics.

Temperature-dependent consumer-resource dynamics: A coupled structured model for Gammarus pulex (L.) and leaf litter

The annual variation in population density of the stream macroinvertebrate Gammarus pulex is frequently linked to annual courses of both, resource availability and temperature, which is calling for a mechanistic analysis of the system. To this effect, we coupled a size structured population model for the consumer and a quality structured resource model for its main resource, leaf litter standing stock. We introduced temperature dependence of processes and a lumped internal energy storage for reproduction and energy reallocation. One-year's field data on body length frequencies of G. pulex, in-stream leaf litter standing stock, leaf fall and temperature were used to calibrate the model for parameters not yet determined in independent experiments. The model reproduced the seasonal pattern of both dynamics acceptably. Independently measured feeding rates of G. pulex were used to confirm the simulated relationship between resource and consumer. Such, we revealed the contribution of temperature and food response to changes in population density. Temperature effects of mortality and reproduction roughly concur with each other, while the energy response of reproduction is pivotally distinct. In the face of model application for projection of climate change effects, further attention should particularly be paid to the specific temperature response of G. pulex and to the contribution of non-shredding decomposition (physical abrasion and microbial colonization) to loss of leaf litter standing stock.

Temporal patterns of populations in a warming world: a modelling framework

In this paper, we present an approach for describing the environmentally induced temporal pattern of structured populations by partial integro-differential equations. Populations are structured according to size or stage. Growth, energy allocation and stage transitions are affected by environmental conditions of which temperature, photoperiod, water depth and food supply were taken into account. The resulting modelling framework was applied to describe, analyse and predict alterations in populations with continuous development, populations with distinct state structures and interacting populations. Our exemplary applications consider populations of freshwater Amphipoda, Isopoda and Odonata. The model was capable of simulating life cycle alterations in dependence on temperature in interaction with other environmental factors: (1) population dynamics, (2) seasonal regulation, (3) water depth-dependent dispersal, (4) intraguild predation and (5) consumer-resource dynamics.

A cascade of evolutionary change alters consumer-resource dynamics and ecosystem function

It is becoming increasingly clear that intraspecific evolutionary divergence influences the properties of populations, communities and ecosystems. The different ecological impacts of phenotypes and genotypes may alter selection on many species and promote a cascade of ecological and evolutionary change throughout the food web. Theory predicts that evolutionary interactions across trophic levels may contribute to hypothesized feedbacks between ecology and evolution. However, the importance of 'cascading evolutionary change' in a natural setting is unknown. In lakes in Connecticut, USA, variation in migratory behaviour and feeding morphology of a fish predator, the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), drives life-history evolution in a species of zooplankton prey (Daphnia ambigua). Here we evaluated the reciprocal impacts of Daphnia evolution on ecological processes in laboratory mesocosms. We show that life-history evolution in Daphnia facilitates divergence in rates of population growth, which in turn significantly alters consumer-resource dynamics and ecosystem function. These experimental results parallel trends observed in lakes. Such results argue that a cascade of evolutionary change, which has occurred over contemporary timescales, alters community and ecosystem processes.

Reciprocal subsidies between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems structure consumer resource dynamics

Cross-ecosystem movements of material and energy, particularly reciprocal resource fluxes across the freshwater-land interface, have received major attention. Freshwater ecosystems may receive higher amounts of subsidies (i.e., resources produced outside the focal ecosystem) than terrestrial ecosystems, potentially leading to increased secondary production in freshwaters. Here we used a meta-analytic approach to quantify the magnitude and direction of subsidy inputs across the freshwater-land interface and to determine subsequent responses in recipient animals. Terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems differed in the magnitude of subsidies they received, with aquatic ecosystems generally receiving higher subsidies than terrestrial ecosystems. Surprisingly, and despite the large discrepancy in magnitude, the contribution of these subsidies to animal carbon inferred from stable isotope composition did not differ between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems, likely due to the differences in subsidy quality. The contribution of allochthonous subsidies was highest to primary consumers and predators, suggesting that bottom-up and top-down effects may be affected considerably by the input of allochthonous resources. Future work on subsidies will profit from a food web dynamic approach including indirect trophic interactions and propagating effects.