| 1. |
- Ask, Jenny, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Whole-lake estimates of carbon flux through algae and bacteria in benthic and pelagic habitats of clear-water lakes
- 2009
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Ingår i: Ecology. - Washington, DC, USA : Ecological Society of America. - 0012-9658 .- 1939-9170. ; 90:7, s. 1923-1932
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study quantified new biomass production of algae and bacteria in both benthic and pelagic habitats of clear-water lakes to contrast how carbon from the atmosphere and terrestrial sources regulates whole-lake metabolism. We studied four small unproductive lakes in subarctic northern Sweden during one summer season. The production of new biomass in both benthic and pelagic habitats was calculated as the sum of autotrophic production by algae and heterotrophic production by bacteria using allochthonous organic carbon (OC). Whole-lake production of new biomass was dominated by the benthic habitat (86% +/- 4% [mean +/- SD]) and by primary production (77% +/- 9%). Still, heterotrophic bacteria fueled by allochthonous OC constituted a significant portion of the new biomass production in both benthic (19% +/- 11%) and pelagic habitats (51% +/- 24%). In addition, overall net production (primary production minus respiration) was close to zero in the benthic habitats but highly negative (-163 +/- 81 mg C.m(-2).d(-1)) in pelagic regions of all lakes. We conclude (1) that allochthonous OC supported a significant part of total production of new biomass in both pelagic and benthic habitats, (2) that benthic habitats dominated the whole-lake production of new biomass, and (3) that respiration and net CO2 production dominated the carbon flux of the pelagic habitats and biomass production dominated the benthic carbon flux. Taken together, these findings suggest that previous investigations have greatly underestimated the productivity of clear-water lakes when benthic autotrophic production and metabolism of allochthonous OC have not been measured.
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| 2. |
- Persson, Lennart, et al.
(författare)
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PREY REFUGES AFFECTING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PISCIVOROUS PERCH AND JUVENILE PERCH AND ROACH
- 1995
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Ingår i: Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0012-9658 .- 1939-9170. ; 76:1, s. 70-81
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In size-structured populations, interactions are strongly dependent on size-specific foraging and anti-predator capacities of the organism. Conflicting size-specific selection pressures over the ontogeny often have different effects on different species leading to asymmetries in competitive and predator-prey interactions. Habitat complexity is likely to affect such asymmetric interactions due to species/size-specific competitive abilities in different habitats and due to the fact that habitat structural complexity may act differently as a prey refuge for different species. We experimentally analyzed the impact of a piscivorous predator (adult perch, Perca fluviatilis) on performance of juvenile perch and roach (rutilus rutilus) at different levels of structural complexity (no structure, structure forming a partial refuge, and structure forming a complete refuge) in enclosures in an experimental pond. We measured predator diet and growth, prey fish habitat use, survival, diet and growth, and prey resource levels in different habitats. Prey fish (perch and roach) were found in the diet of piscivorous perch in no refuge and partial refuge treatments. Growth rate of the piscivorous perch decreased with increased refuge efficiency. Juvenile perch increased their proportional use of the structurally complex refuges in the presence of piscivorous perch and the survival increased with increased refuge efficiency (from partial to complete refuge). The diet of juvenile perch changed from predominantly cyclopoid copepods in the absence of predators to predominantly macroinvertebrates in the presence of predators. There was no effect of predator-induced habitat restriction on growth of juvenile perch. Roach survival also increased with increased refuge efficiency in the presence of predators, and roach survival in the refuge treatments did not differ from each other or from the treatments with predators absent. Predator-induced habitat restriction in roach was associated with a decreased growth of roach. Our results suggest that, compared to juvenile roach, juvenile perch may compensate more for lost foraging opportunity in the open water via increased exploitation of structure-associated prey in refuges. As a result, predator-induced habitat shifts by juvenile perch and roach may alter competitive interactions between the species. On the other hand, structural complexity may form an almost complete refuge for juvenile roach from predators and thereby affect the predator-prey relationships between piscivorous perch and juvenile perch and roach to the advantage of juvenile roach. The demonstrated effects of structural complexity on competitive and predator-prey interactions between perch and roach can be related to the two species' distributions in lakes with different degrees of structural complexity.
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| 3. |
- Persson, Lennart, et al.
(författare)
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Symmetry breaking in ecological systems through different energy efficiencies of juveniles and adults
- 2013
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Ingår i: Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0012-9658 .- 1939-9170. ; 94:7, s. 1487-1498
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ontogenetic development is a fundamental aspect of the life history of all organisms and has major effects on population and community dynamics. We postulate a general conceptual framework for understanding these effects and claim that two potential energetics bottlenecks at the level of the individual organismthe rate by which it develops and the rate by which it reproducesform a fundamental route to symmetry-breaking in ecological systems, leading to ontogenetic asymmetry in energetics. Unstructured ecological theory, which ignores ontogenetic development, corresponds to a limiting case only, in which mass-specific rates of biomass production through somatic growth and reproduction, and biomass loss through mortality, are independent of body size (ontogenetic symmetry). Ontogenetic symmetry results in development and reproduction being limited to the same extent by food density. In all other cases, symmetry-breaking occurs. Ontogenetic asymmetry results in increases in juvenile, adult, or even total biomass in response to mortality. At the community level, this gives rise to alternative stable states via predator-induced shifts in prey size distributions. Ontogenetic asymmetry furthermore leads to two distinct types of cycles in population dynamics, depending on whether development or reproduction is most energy limited. We discuss the mechanisms giving rise to these phenomena and the empirical support for them. We conclude that the concepts of ontogenetic symmetry and ontogenetic asymmetry form a novel and general organizing principle on which future ecological theory should be developed.
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| 4. |
- van de Wolfshaar, K E, et al.
(författare)
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Population feedback after successful invasion leads to ecological suicide in seasonal environments.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0012-9658. ; 89:1, s. 259-68
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For most consumer species, winter represents a period of harsh food conditions in addition to the physiological strain that results from the low ambient temperatures. In sizestructured populations, larger-bodied individuals do better during winter as they have larger energy reserves to buffer starvation periods. In contrast, smaller-bodied individuals do better under growing conditions, as they have lower maintenance costs. We study how the interplay between size-dependent life-history processes and seasonal changes in temperature and food availability shape the long-term dynamics of a size-structured consumer population and its unstructured resource. We show that the size dependence of maintenance requirements translates into a minimum body size that is needed for surviving starvation when consumers can adapt only to a limited extent to the low food densities in winter. This size threshold can lead to population extinction because adult individuals suffer only a little during winter and hence produce large numbers of offspring. Due to population feedback on the resource and intense intra-cohort competition, newborn consumers then fail to reach the size threshold for survival. Under these conditions, small numbers of individuals can survive, increase in density, and build up a population, which will subsequently go extinct due to its feedback on the resource. High juvenile mortality may prevent this ecological suicide from occurring, as it releases resource competition among newborns and speeds up their growth. In size-structured populations, annual fluctuations in temperature and food availability may thus lead to a conflict between individual fitness and population persistence.
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