Timing and abundance as key mechanisms affecting trophic interactions in variable environments.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Climate Change Biology
• Population Dynamics

Background:

• Trophic interactions are increasingly disrupted by climate change.
• The match-mismatch hypothesis focuses on temporal synchrony between prey availability and predator breeding phenology.
• This hypothesis may overlook the role of prey abundance in compensating for temporal mismatches.

Discussion:

• A novel time-series model was developed to quantify both timing and abundance components of trophic relationships.
• The model was applied to three distinct ecosystems: marine (cod/zooplankton), marine-terrestrial (puffin/herring), and terrestrial (sheep/vegetation).
• Results indicate that timing and abundance of food affect predator recruitment differently across these ecosystems.

Key Insights:

• Predator recruitment is influenced by both the timing and abundance of prey resources.
• The relative importance of timing versus abundance varies depending on the specific ecosystem and trophic interaction.
• Environmental variability impacts ecological systems through complex interactions between resource availability and phenological synchrony.

Outlook:

• Further research can refine models to better predict ecological responses to climate change.
• Understanding these dynamics is crucial for effective conservation and ecosystem management strategies.
• This approach provides a more comprehensive framework for assessing climate change impacts on food webs.