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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 15, 2026

Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems

Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems

Published on: July 30, 2019

Salmon subsidize an escape from a size spectrum.

Morgan D Hocking¹, Nicholas K Dulvy, John D Reynolds

¹Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Environment, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, V5A 1S6. mhocking@sfu.ca

Proceedings. Biological Sciences

|January 4, 2013

Summary

Marine resource subsidies, like salmon carcasses, can alter terrestrial food web structures. This study reveals how these subsidies impact soil community biomass and species size distribution in western Canada.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Food web dynamics
Community ecology

Background:

Ecological communities typically show decreased abundance with increasing body size.
Resource subsidies can alter established size spectrum relationships.
Marine-to-terrestrial subsidies are understudied in their effects on terrestrial communities.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of marine resource subsidies on terrestrial soil community size spectra.
To test how Pacific salmon carcasses influence the biomass and structure of forest soil communities.
To examine the role of body size in mediating the effects of subsidies.

Main Methods:

Utilized both species-based and individual-based approaches to analyze community structure.
Quantified changes in forest soil community biomass and size distribution.
Assessed the influence of Pacific salmon carcass availability as an energy subsidy.

Main Results:

Confirmed size structuring within the forest soil community.
Observed a transient, community-wide doubling of standing biomass due to salmon carcass subsidies.
Identified specific species (larval flies) that significantly increased in biomass, escaping the typical size spectrum.

Conclusions:

Marine resource subsidies can dramatically alter terrestrial community structure and biomass.
A size-based perspective is crucial for understanding the impacts of resource subsidies on food webs.
Pacific salmon carcasses act as a significant subsidy, influencing the size-spectrum dynamics of forest soil invertebrates.