Arctic ecosystem structure and functioning shaped by climate and herbivore body size

Autor: R. I. G. Morrison, Marie-Christine Cadieux, Dominique Gravel, Charles J. Krebs, Shawn J. Leroux, Donald G. Reid, Joël Bêty, Dominique Berteaux, Michel Loreau, Niels-Martin Schmidt, Nigel G. Yoccoz, Gilles Gauthier, Rolf A. Ims, Pierre Legagneux, Nicolas Lecomte
Přispěvatelé: Université Laval [Québec] (ULaval), Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), University of Tromsø (UiT), University of Moncton, Aarhus University [Aarhus], Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), University of British Columbia (UBC), Carleton University, Memorial University of Newfoundland [St. John's], Station d’Ecologie Expérimentale du CNRS à Moulis (SEEM), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature Climate Change
Nature Climate Change, Nature Publishing Group, 2014, 4, pp.379-383. ⟨10.1038/nclimate2168⟩
Legagneux, P, Gauthier, G, Lecomte, N, Schmidt, N M, Reid, D, Cadieux, M-C, Berteaux, D, Bêty, J, Krebs, C J, Ims, R A, Yoccoz, N G, Morrison, R I G, Leroux, S J, Loreau, M & Gravel, D 2014, ' Arctic ecosystem structure and functioning shaped by climate and herbivore body size ', Nature Climate Change, vol. 4, pp. 379-383 . https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2168
ISSN: 1758-678X
1758-6798
DOI: 10.1038/nclimate2168⟩
Popis: International audience; Significant progress has been made in our understanding of species-level responses to climate change, but upscaling to entire ecosystems remains a challenge. This task is particularly urgent in the Arctic, where global warming is most pronounced. Here we report the results of an international collaboration on the direct and indirect effects of climate on the functioning of Arctic terrestrial ecosystems. Our data from seven terrestrial food webs spread along a wide range of latitudes (∼1,500 km) and climates (Δ mean July temperature = 8.5 °C) across the circumpolar world show the effects of climate on tundra primary production, food-web structure and species interaction strength. The intensity of predation on lower trophic levels increased significantly with temperature, at approximately 4.5% per °C. Temperature also affected trophic interactions through an indirect effect on food-web structure (that is, diversity and number of interactions). Herbivore body size was a major determinant of predator–prey interactions, as interaction strength was positively related to the predator–prey size ratio, with large herbivores mostly escaping predation. There is potential for climate warming to cause a switch from bottom-up to top-down regulation of herbivores. These results are critical to resolving the debate on the regulation of tundra and other terrestrial ecosystems exposed to global change.
Databáze: OpenAIRE