arming and top predator loss drive direct and indirect effects on multiple trophic groups within and across ecosystem

Author(s)

Antiqueira, Pablo Augusto P. ^[1] ; Petchey, Owen L. ^[2] ; Rezende, Felipe ^[1] ; Machado Velho, Luiz Felipe ^{[3, 4]} ; Rodrigues, Luzia Cleide ^[3] ; Romero, Gustavo Quevedo ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol IB, Lab Interacoes Multitrof & Biodiversidade, UNICAMP, Campinas - Brazil

^[2] Univ Zurich, Inst Evolutionary Biol & Environm Studies, Zurich - Switzerland

^[3] Univ Estadual Maringa UEM, Nucleo Pesquisas Limnol Ictiol & Aquicultura NUPE, Maringa, Parana - Brazil

^[4] Univ Cesumar UniCesumar PPGTL, Inst Cesumar Ciencia & Tecnolgia ICETI, Maringa, Parana - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of Animal Ecology; v. 91, n. 2 DEC 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The interspecific interactions within and between adjacent ecosystems strongly depend on the changes in their abiotic and biotic components. However, little is known about how climate change and biodiversity loss in a specific ecosystem can impact the multiple trophic interactions of different biological groups within and across ecosystems. We used natural microecosystems (tank-bromeliads) as a model system to investigate the main and interactive effects of aquatic warming and aquatic top predator loss (i.e. trophic downgrading) on trophic relationships in three integrated food web compartments: (a) aquatic micro-organisms, (b) aquatic macro-organisms and (c) terrestrial predators (i.e. via cross-ecosystem effects). The aquatic top predator loss substantially impacted the three food web compartments. In the aquatic macrofauna compartment, trophic downgrading increased the filter feeder richness and abundance directly and indirectly via an increase in detritivore richness, likely through a facilitative interaction. For the microbiota compartment, aquatic top predator loss had a negative effect on algae richness, probably via decreasing the input of nutrients from predator biological activities. Furthermore, the more active terrestrial predators responded more to aquatic top predator loss, via an increase in some components of aquatic macrofauna, than more stationary terrestrial predators. The aquatic trophic downgrading indirectly altered the richness and abundance of cursorial terrestrial predators, but these effects had different direction according to the aquatic functional group, filter feeder or other detritivores. The web-building predators were indirectly affected by aquatic trophic downgrading due to increased filter feeder richness. Aquatic warming did not affect the aquatic micro- or macro-organisms but did positively affect the abundance of web-building terrestrial predators. These results allow us to raise a predictive framework of how different anthropogenic changes predicted for the next decades, such as aquatic warming and top predator loss, could differentially affect multiple biological groups through interactions within and across ecosystems. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/09052-4 - Influence of latitude and aquatic subsidies on niche breadth and structure of terrestrial communities
• Grantee: Gustavo Quevedo Romero
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 19/08474-8 - Freshwater ecosystems under climate change: impacts across multiple levels of organisation
• Grantee: Gustavo Quevedo Romero
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 17/26243-8 - Extreme rainfall events and their effects on the community structure and ecosystem functioning
• Grantee: Pablo Augusto Poleto Antiqueira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 18/12225-0 - Unifying environmental and spatial determinants of food web structure across spatial scales
• Grantee: Gustavo Quevedo Romero
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants