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Temperature directly and indirectly influences food web structure
1Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA. jean.gibert@duke.edu.
Scientific Reports
|March 31, 2019
Summary
Global food webs are strongly influenced by temperature, not just latitude. Temperature directly impacts species numbers and interactions, while indirectly affecting food web complexity and trophic levels, crucial for predicting climate change effects.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Climate Change Biology
- Food Web Dynamics
Background:
- Predicting ecosystem responses to climate change requires understanding global food web structure.
- Current understanding of environmental impacts on food webs is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of latitude and temperature on global food web structure.
- To determine whether temperature or latitude is a better predictor of food web properties.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the most resolved food web data available.
- Statistical examination of relationships between environmental factors (latitude, temperature) and food web metrics.
Main Results:
- Temperature is a more parsimonious predictor of food web structure than latitude.
- Temperature directly reduces species richness, basal species proportion, and interaction numbers.
- Temperature indirectly increases omnivory, connectance, and trophic levels via effects on basal species.
Conclusions:
- Environmental conditions, particularly temperature, significantly shape food web structure globally.
- Both direct and indirect effects of temperature on food webs are critical for climate change impact assessments.
- Future predictions must account for combined biotic and abiotic influences on food webs in a changing world.
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