1 research outputs found
Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities
Este artĂculo contiene 7 pĂĄginas, 3 figuras, 1 tabla.The global distribution of primary production and consumption by
humans (fisheries) is well-documented, but we have no map linking
the central ecological process of consumption within food
webs to temperature and other ecological drivers. Using standardized
assays that span 105° of latitude on four continents, we show
that rates of bait consumption by generalist predators in shallow
marine ecosystems are tightly linked to both temperature and the
composition of consumer assemblages. Unexpectedly, rates of
consumption peaked at midlatitudes (25 to 35°) in both Northern
and Southern Hemispheres across both seagrass and unvegetated
sediment habitats. This pattern contrasts with terrestrial systems,
where biotic interactions reportedly weaken away from the equator,
but it parallels an emerging pattern of a subtropical peak in
marine biodiversity. The higher consumption at midlatitudes was
closely related to the type of consumers present, which explained
rates of consumption better than consumer density, biomass, species
diversity, or habitat. Indeed, the apparent effect of temperature
on consumption was mostly driven by temperature-associated turnover
in consumer community composition. Our findings reinforce
the key influence of climate warming on altered species composition
and highlight its implications for the functioning of Earthâs
ecosystems.We acknowledge funding from the Smithsonian
Institution and the Tula Foundation.Peer reviewe