How Carefully Executed Network Theory Informs Invasion Ecology

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Impact of biodiversity loss on production in complex marine food webs mitigated by prey-release

T.F. is being supported by the National University of Singapore grant WBS R-154-000-551-133. In addition, T.F., K.D.F., D.G.R. and A.G.R. acknowledge funding from a Beaufort Marine Research Award, carried out under the Sea Change Strategy and the Strategy for Science Technology and Innovation (2006–2013), with the support of the Marine Institute, funded under the Marine Research Sub-Programme of the Irish National Development Plan 2007–2013. T.F. also acknowledges funding by a Sir Walter William Adrian MacGeough Bond Post-PhD Publication Support Fellowship. Furthermore, A.G.R. acknowledges funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreements no. 289257 (MYFISH) and no. 308392 (DEVOTES). Last, A.G.R. acknowledges funding from the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (M1228)

Quantitative criteria for choosing targets and indicators for sustainable use of ecosystems

The authors thank Simon Greenstreet, Cristina Herbon, Simon Jennings, Tiziana Luisetti, Lucille Paltriguera, and Christian Wilson for comments on previous versions of this paper. This work has resulted from the DEVOTES (DEVelopment Of innovative Tools for understanding marine biodiversity and assessing Good Environmental Status) project funded by the EU under the 7th Framework Programme, ‘The Ocean of Tomorrow’ Theme (No. 308392), www.devotes-project.eu. Further, A.G.R. was partially funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the UK Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) within the Marine Ecosystems Research Program (MERP), C.P.L. by Defra (M1228), A.Z. by BIOsingle bondC3 within the joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme (EU 7th and Research Council of Lithuania, BONUS-1/2014), and M.C.U. by the Spanish Programme for talent and employability in I + D + i ‘Torres Quevedo’

Let's Train More Theoretical Ecologists - Here Is Why

A tangled web of vicious circles, driven by cultural issues, has prevented ecology from growing strong theoretical roots. Now this hinders development of effective conservation policies. To overcome these barriers in view of urgent societal needs, we propose a global network of postgraduate theoretical training programs

Steeper size spectra with decreasing phytoplankton biomass indicate strong trophic amplification and future fish declines

Under climate change, model ensembles suggest that declines in phyto�plankton biomass amplify into greater reductions at higher trophic levels, with serious implications for fisheries and carbon storage. However, the extent and mechanisms of this trophic amplification vary greatly among models, and validation is problematic. In situ size spectra offer a novel alternative, com�paring biomass of small and larger organisms to quantify the net efficiency of energy transfer through natural food webs that are already challenged with multiple climate change stressors. Our global compilation of pelagic size spectrum slopes supports trophic amplification empirically, independently from model simulations. Thus, even a modest (16%) decline in phytoplankton this century would magnify into a 38% decline in supportable biomass of fish within the intensively-fished mid-latitude ocean. We also show that this amplification stems not from thermal controls on consumers, but mainly from temperature or nutrient controls that structure the phytoplankton baseline of the food web. The lack of evidence for direct thermal effects on size structure contrasts with most current thinking, based often on more acute stress experiments or shorter-timescale responses. Our synthesis of size spectra integrates these short-term dynamics, revealing the net efficiency of food webs acclimating and adapting to climatic stressor