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- Ask, Per, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Competition mediated coexistence of invading intermediate consumer, ninespine stickleback, and a resident omnivorous top predator, Arctic char
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Climate change results in changes in the geographical distribution of species. Species invasion success into a new area is dependent both on the dispersal ability of species as well as the strength and identity of biotic interactions between resident and invading species. Coexistence in intraguild predation (IGP) systems depends on the relative strength of predation and competition interactions which in turn are temperature dependent. We investigated the effects of introducing an intermediate consumer, ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius), into allopatric populations of the omnivorous top predator Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus). Introductions were performed in lakes with different climate regimes, two tundra lakes and two forest lakes that differed in average summer temperatures with 1.4 ± 0.5 ºC (average ± 1SD). We found that sticklebacks were able to invade and increase in density in both tundra and forest lakes. Sticklebacks had strong negative effects on resource densities which also was reflected in a decreased growth of small char. Increasing stickleback density had a positive effect on growth of large adults and on the maximum size of char. We conclude that stickleback presence is not limited by biological interactions in these systems but rather by dispersion ability. We suggest that the size dependency in the response of char to the invasion of sticklebacks is fundamental for the successful invasion of sticklebacks, and that size dependent interactions including cannibalism play important roles for coexistence in natural IGP-systems.
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- Ask, Per, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Temperature mediated effects on top consumer populations in subarctic lakes
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The effects of temperature on top consumer populations in subarctic lake communities were studied by contrasting two lake pairs in different climate regimes: one pair on the low alpine tundra and one pair in the subalpine birch forest. We measured zooplankton and macroinvertebrate biomasses over the season and estimated population density and size structure of the top consumer Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus). Furthermore, we modelled char growth using literature data on temperature dependent search rate, handling time and metabolic demands. The forest lakes were warmer than the tundra lakes. Char in the forest lakes were larger and had a higher individual growth compared to char in the tundra lakes, while population density and biomasses of char were not different between the forest and the tundra lakes. There were no differences in macroinvertebrate and zooplankton resource levels available for char between lake pairs. Our modeling of char growth revealed that higher temperature increased growth of char at the observed resource densities, suggesting that the higher temperature in the forest lakes was primarily the cause of the higher growth of char in these lakes. We suggest that cannibalism in char may regulate char recruitment and thereby population density and biomass of char leading to effects of increasing temperature on consumer biomass and consumer individual growth different from what is expected in pure consumer-resource systems. Our results emphasize the importance of feedbacks within ecosystems when addressing effects of climate change and increasing temperature on lake communities.
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- Byström, Pär, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Warming decrease fish population densities and biomass
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Temperature impact all biota and ecosystems through its direct effect on the vital rates of primary producers and consumers. Still, how these changes in rates translates through ecosystem feed backs to the population level of top consumers are poorly understood. Here, we studied effects of temperature increase (+ 3 ̊C during ice free season) on fish population dynamics in a replicated large scale pond ecosystem experiment over 3 years. Increased temperature had no significant effect on whole ecosystem gross primary production while top down effects of warming on intermediate consumers changed from negative to positive due to negative effects of warming on fish population abundance. Total fish density and biomass and abundance of both mature and old fish decreased with warming, while proportion of young fish increased, with warming. The effects of warming on fish population demographics were likely due to that temperature increased cohort competition and fish energy requirements relative to resource production. Our results suggest that global warming may increase competition, favor young individuals and overall decrease fish population densities and biomass.
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| 8. |
- Hedström, Per, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Population and size dependent responses in fish production to climate change
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Climate change is predicted to increase water temperatures and export of terrestrial dissolved matter (TDOM) to aquatic ecosystems with concomitant effects on ecosystem productivity and production of consumers at the top of the food web. Here we study how increased level of TDOM and temperature alone or in combination affect benthic and pelagic primary production and biomass production of fish in replicated large scale outdoor pond experiment. We increased temperature (+3 ̊C) and TDOM concentrations (×2.5) using natural high TDOM water from a small creek and used naturally reproducing three-spine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populations as model fish species. Gross primary production (GPP) was similar to ambient control conditions in all treatments although increased TDOM concentrations deceased benthic but stimulated pelagic GPP, presumably as a result of decreased light availability and increased nutrient availability, respectively. The production of young-of-the-year (YOY), older, and total fish population were negatively affected by warming, whereas increased TDOM caused decreased YOY and total fish production. Effect of temperature on fish production were likely a result of increased metabolic cost in relation to resource production and intake rates whereas the negative effect of TDOM on fish production was likely a result of decreasing benthic resource production. However, the combined effect on fish production of warming and TDOM was only intermediate compared to individual treatments. Our study suggest climate change will lead to decreased fish production and that the effect may be most pronounced in clear systems dominated by benthic GPP .
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| 9. |
- Hedström, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Warming but not increased terrestrial doc has negative effects on fish recruitment
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Water temperature and export of terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to recipient aquatic ecosystems have strong impacts on ecosystem productivity. Increased DOC concentration causing brownification of water is argued to reduce fish production by decreasing light availability for autotrophic production. On the other hand, higher temperatures have been shown to correlate positively with fish recruitment. This increase has been related to increased growth rates and survival of young-of-the-year (YOY) fish with warming. However, whether or not increased temperature results in higher growth depends on resource availability, suggesting a relationship between individual gain and recruitment mediated via the interplay between resource production and temperature. In a replicated, large scale experimental pond ecosystem, we tested the effects of increased temperature (+3oC) and terrestrial DOC concentrations (+4 mg/l) on recruitment (size, density and biomass) of three-spined sticklebacks over one growth season. Gross primary production (GPP) was similar between treatments, whereas zooplankton and benthic invertebrate biomass were negatively affected by increased temperature and if any higher at increased DOC levels. Increased temperature had no effect on individual size but negative effects on body condition and recruitment of YOY sticklebacks, while increased DOC concentration had no effect on recruitment. No positive effect of temperature increase on GPP and decreased resource levels in combination with higher metabolic costs, are suggested to increase starvation mortality and to be the main mechanism behind observed negative effects of warming on recruitment. Based on our results, we suggest that climate change may, counter intuitively, have negative effects on fish recruitment due to decreased carrying capacity of nursery habitats as a consequence of increased energy requirements in juvenile fish in relation to the net effects on resource production and ecosystem productivity.
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