Amplification and attenuation of increased primary production in a marine food web

Kearney, Kelly; Stock, Charles A.; Sarmiento, Jorge L.

doi:10.3354/meps10484

Cited by 24 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…The Ecopath model represents the relationship between functional group biomass and non-predation-related natural mortality linearly. For groups characterized by high density-dependent mortality, a quadratic representation may better capture control mechanisms in predator-prey interactions and propagation of bottom-up effects through the food web [ 61 ], but the requisite empirical data are difficult to obtain. The current model also does not represent non-consumptive, fear-mediated [ 62 ] top-down effects of top predators (e.g., large demersal sharks) on mesopredators (e.g., seals), with cascading positive effects on prey (e.g., herring).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herring supports Northeast Pacific predators and fisheries: Insights from ecosystem modelling and management strategy evaluation

et al. 2018

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This paper analyzes the trophic role of Pacific herring, the potential consequences of its depletion, and the impacts of alternative herring fishing strategies on a Northeast Pacific food web in relation to precautionary, ecosystem-based management. We used an Ecopath with Ecosim ecosystem model parameterized for northern British Columbia (Canada), employing Ecosim to simulate ecosystem effects of herring stock collapse. The ecological impacts of various herring fishing strategies were investigated with a Management Strategy Evaluation algorithm within Ecosim, accounting for variability in climatic drivers and stock assessment errors. Ecosim results suggest that herring stock collapse would have cascading impacts on much of the pelagic food web. Management Strategy Evaluation results indicate that herring and their predators suffer moderate impacts from the existing British Columbia harvest control rule, although more precautionary management strategies could substantially reduce these impacts. The non-capture spawn-on-kelp fishery, traditionally practiced by many British Columbia and Alaska indigenous peoples, apparently has extremely limited ecological impacts. Our simulations also suggest that adopting a maximum sustainable yield management strategy in Northeast Pacific herring fisheries could generate strong, cascading food web effects. Furthermore, climate shifts, especially when combined with herring stock assessment errors, could strongly reduce the biomasses and resilience of herring and its predators. By clarifying the trophic role of Pacific herring, this study aims to facilitate precautionary fisheries management via evaluation of alternative fishing strategies, and thereby to inform policy tradeoffs among multiple ecological and socioeconomic factors.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herring supports Northeast Pacific predators and fisheries: Insights from ecosystem modelling and management strategy evaluation

et al. 2018

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“…Ecosystem responses to global climate change are likely to be complex, regionally varied and poorly predicted by monitoring of primary production metrics alone (Kearney et al, 2013;Chust et al, 2014). The forecasting of future ecosystem states may be improved through the inclusion of multiple indicators of foodweb dynamics, energy flow and physical-biological relationships (Friedland et al, 2012;Fu et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Humpback whale diets respond to variance in ocean climate and ecosystem conditions in the California Current

Fleming

Clark

Calambokidis

et al. 2015

Global Change Biology

135

137

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Large, migratory predators are often cited as sentinel species for ecosystem processes and climate-related changes, but their utility as indicators is dependent upon an understanding of their response to environmental variability. Documentation of the links between climate variability, ecosystem change and predator dynamics is absent for most top predators. Identifying species that may be useful indicators and elucidating these mechanistic links provides insight into current ecological dynamics and may inform predictions of future ecosystem responses to climatic change. We examine humpback whale response to environmental variability through stable isotope analysis of diet over a dynamic 20-year period (1993-2012) in the California Current System (CCS). Humpback whale diets captured two major shifts in oceanographic and ecological conditions in the CCS. Isotopic signatures reflect a diet dominated by krill during periods characterized by positive phases of the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO), cool sea surface temperature (SST), strong upwelling and high krill biomass. In contrast, humpback whale diets are dominated by schooling fish when the NPGO is negative, SST is warmer, seasonal upwelling is delayed and anchovy and sardine populations display increased biomass and range expansion. These findings demonstrate that humpback whales trophically respond to ecosystem shifts, and as a result, their foraging behavior is a synoptic indicator of oceanographic and ecological conditions across the CCS. Multi-decadal examination of these sentinel species thus provides insight into biological consequences of interannual climate fluctuations, fundamental to advancing ecosystem predictions related to global climate change.

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“…EwE's structure also influences the relative impacts of ecosystem forcing. For example, Kearney et al (2013) show that changes at the base of the food web are carried through to higher trophic levels more readily under linear rather than quadratic non-predatory mortality relationships. Such a linear relationship is used in our EwE model and may, in part, explain the nature of bottom-up sensitivity in our results.…”

Section: Uncertainty On the Relative Impacts Of Top-down And Bottom-umentioning

confidence: 98%

Two takes on the ecosystem impacts of climate change and fishing: Comparing a size-based and a species-based ecosystem model in the central North Pacific

Woodworth‐Jefcoats

Polovina

Howell

et al. 2015

Progress in Oceanography

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Amplification and attenuation of increased primary production in a marine food web

Abstract: Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherRealistic, complex marine food webs (left) complicate the simple paradigm of linear production and energy transfer across trophic levels (right).

Cited by 24 publications

References 35 publications

Herring supports Northeast Pacific predators and fisheries: Insights from ecosystem modelling and management strategy evaluation

Herring supports Northeast Pacific predators and fisheries: Insights from ecosystem modelling and management strategy evaluation

Humpback whale diets respond to variance in ocean climate and ecosystem conditions in the California Current

Two takes on the ecosystem impacts of climate change and fishing: Comparing a size-based and a species-based ecosystem model in the central North Pacific

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