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Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter

Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter

Published on: March 12, 2013

Predator mass mortality events restructure food webs through trophic decoupling.

Simon P Tye¹, Samuel B Fey², Jean P Gibert³

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA. simontye@uark.edu.

|January 17, 2024

Summary

Predator mass-mortality events (MMEs) cause unique ecosystem changes. These events boost productivity and biodiversity, masking their impact and altering food web dynamics.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Environmental Science
Conservation Biology

Background:

Predators are crucial for ecosystem structure, but global predator loss is increasing.
Predator mass-mortality events (MMEs) are large-scale die-offs, poorly understood in their immediate ecological impacts.
Existing studies on predator removal may not fully capture MME effects due to in-situ decomposition and resource pulses.

Purpose of the Study:

To experimentally investigate the immediate ecological impacts of MMEs in freshwater lake food webs.
To differentiate MME effects from simple predator removals or resource pulses.
To understand how MMEs influence ecosystem dynamics and trophic interactions.

Main Methods:

Experimental induction of MMEs in controlled, tritrophic freshwater lake food webs.
Monitoring of consumer and producer community responses.
Analysis of biomass dynamics and trophic interactions.

Main Results:

MMEs promoted diverse consumer and producer communities by reducing top-down control and increasing bottom-up effects from decomposition.
Enhanced primary production following MMEs counteracted consumer community responses.
MMEs resulted in biomass dynamics resembling undisturbed systems, indicating they can be cryptic disturbances.
Trophic decoupling occurred, with lost indirect predator benefits manifesting as direct bottom-up stimulation of primary production.

Conclusions:

MMEs create distinct ecological signatures, differing from predator removals or resource pulses alone.
The study demonstrates the feasibility of predicting novel ecological dynamics driven by MMEs in the context of global change.
MMEs can lead to trophic decoupling and altered food web functioning, with potential long-term consequences for ecosystem stability.