Disentangling temporal food web dynamics facilitates understanding of ecosystem functioning

Kortsch, Susanne; Frelat, Romain; Pécuchet, Laurène; Olivier, P; Putnis, Ivars; Bonsdorff, Erik; Ojaveer, Henn; Jurgensone, Iveta; Strāķe, Solvita; Rubene, Gunta; Kruze, E.; Nordström, Marie C.

doi:10.1111/1365-2656.13447

Cited by 49 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Experimental evidence supports findings that climate change can and will drive changes in the pelagic primary production (Sommer et al, 2012), and a thorough review illustrating benthic-pelagic coupling shows ecosystem-wide consequences of altered pelagic primary production (Griffiths et al, 2017), probably also impacting food web dynamics (Kortsch et al, 2021).…”

Section: Phytoplankton and Cyanobacteriasupporting

confidence: 53%

“…The consequences of climate change are difficult to predict, also because research into the longterm dynamics of food webs is still scarce (Kortsch et al, 2021;Pecuchet et al, 2020;Törnroos et al, 2019). Some common patterns arise from the wealth of recent studies, however.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only recently have the experimental and mesocosm studies on the dynamics of the lower trophic levels, i.e., bacteria, flagellates and microzooplankton started to shed light on the complex dynamics of the microbial loop under different scenarios of DOM, temperature and OA. The conclusions from the experimental work should be integrated into the wider empirical studies of food web dynamics, to get a more comprehensive view of the responses of the pelagic and benthic systems to climate change, from bacteria to fish (Kortsch et al, 2021).…”

Section: Knowledge Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global climate change and the Baltic Sea ecosystem: direct and indirect effects on species, communities and ecosystem functioning

Viitasalo

Bonsdorff

2021

Preprint

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Abstract. Climate change has multiple direct and indirect potentially synergistic effects on Baltic Sea species, organism communities, and on ecosystem functioning, through physical and biogeochemical environmental characteristics of the sea. Associated indirect and secondary effects on species interactions, trophic dynamics and ecosystem function are expected to be significant. Evidence on effects of climate are compiled from and reviewed for field studies, experimental work, as well as modelling studies primarily from published literature after 2010. The responses vary within and between species groups, even between sibling species. Such subtle differences, as well as secondary feedbacks and altered trophic pathways, make projections difficult. Some common patterns arise from the wealth of recent studies, however. It is likely that the combined effects of increased external nutrient loads, stratification and internal loading will improve the conditions for cyanobacterial blooms in large parts of the Baltic. In the northernmost areas the increasing allochtonous DOM may further complicate the picture by increasing heterotrophy and by decreasing food web efficiency. This effect may, however, be counteracted by the intensification of the bacteria-flagellate-microzooplankton-mesozooplankton link, which may change the system from a bottom-up controlled one to a top-down controlled one. In deep benthic communities, continued eutrophication may promote higher sedimentation of organic matter and increase zoobenthic biomasses, but eventually increasing stratification and hypoxia/anoxia will disrupt benthic-pelagic coupling, leading to reduced benthic biomass. In the photic benthic systems warmer winters with less ice and nutrient increase enhances eutrophication. The projected salinity decline suppresses marine species, and temperature increase overgrowth of perennial macroalgae by annual filamentous alga throughout the growing-season, and major changes in the marine entire ecosystem are expected. The changes in environmental conditions probably also lead to increased establishment of non-indigenous species, potentially affecting food web dynamics in large areas of the Baltic Sea. However, several modelling studies have concluded that nutrient reductions according to the Baltic Sea Action Plan of Helsinki Commission may be a stronger driver for ecosystem functions in the Baltic Sea than climate change. Such studies highlight the importance of studying the Baltic Sea as an interlinked socio-ecological system. Knowledge gaps include uncertainties in projecting the future salinity level as well as stratification under different climate forcings. This weakens our ability to project how overall biodiversity, pelagic productivity, fish populations, and macroalgal communities may change in the future. Experimental work must be better integrated into studies of food web dynamics, to get a more comprehensive view of the responses of the pelagic and benthic systems to climate change, from bacteria to fish. Few studies have holistically investigated the shallow water ecosystems holistically. There are complex climate-induced interactions and multiple feedbacks between algae, grazers and their predators, that are poorly known, as are the effects of non-native invasive species. Finally, both 2D species distribution models and 3D ecosystem models could benefit from better integration of approaches including physical, chemical and biological parameters.

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Section: Phytoplankton and Cyanobacteriasupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Knowledge Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global climate change and the Baltic Sea ecosystem: direct and indirect effects on species, communities and ecosystem functioning

Viitasalo

Bonsdorff

2021

Preprint

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“…Thus, the data do not reveal information about feeding rates or biomasses. Despite this, metabarcoding has the potential to serve as an important complement to food web models that implement population biomasses and metabolic energy demands [ 67 ], by bringing details of species-specific feeding interactions to the model.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA metabarcoding reveals trophic niche diversity of micro and mesozooplankton species

2021

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Alternative pathways of energy transfer guarantee the functionality and productivity in marine food webs that experience strong seasonality. Nevertheless, the complexity of zooplankton interactions is rarely considered in trophic studies because of the lack of detailed information about feeding interactions in nature. In this study, we used DNA metabarcoding to highlight the diversity of trophic niches in a wide range of micro- and mesozooplankton, including ciliates, rotifers, cladocerans, copepods and their prey, by sequencing 16- and 18S rRNA genes. Our study demonstrates that the zooplankton trophic niche partitioning goes beyond both phylogeny and size and reinforces the importance of diversity in resource use for stabilizing food web efficiency by allowing for several different pathways of energy transfer. We further highlight that small, rarely studied zooplankton (rotifers and ciliates) fill an important role in the Baltic Sea pelagic primary production pathways and the potential of ciliates, rotifers and crustaceans in the utilization of filamentous and picocyanobacteria within the pelagic food web. The approach used in this study is a suitable entry point to ecosystem-wide food web modelling considering species-specific resource use of key consumers.

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“…Several studies have confirmed that marine copepod species have declined in abundance since the 1980s, while euryhaline or limnetic, often small species have increased (Hänninen et al, 2015;Suikkanen et al, 2013;Kortsch et al, 2021). The observed decline of marine taxa has been linked to the reduction in surface-water salinity since the 1980s (Vuorinen et al, 2015), whereas the increase of brackish-water taxa has been positively influenced by the temperature increase, directly or indirectly (Mäkinen et al, 2017).…”

Section: Zooplanktonmentioning

confidence: 96%

Climate Change in the Baltic Sea Region: A Summary

Meier

Kniebusch

Dieterich

et al. 2021

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Abstract. Based on the Baltic Earth Assessment Reports of this thematic issue in Earth System Dynamics and recent peer-reviewed literature, current knowledge about the effects of global warming on past and future changes in climate of the Baltic Sea region is summarized and assessed. The study is an update of the Second Assessment of Climate Change (BACC II) published in 2015 and focusses on the atmosphere, land, cryosphere, ocean, sediments and the terrestrial and marine biosphere. Based on the summaries of the recent knowledge gained in paleo-, historical and future regional climate research, we find that the main conclusions from earlier assessments remain still valid. However, new long-term, homogenous observational records, e.g. for Scandinavian glacier inventories, sea-level driven saltwater inflows, so-called Major Baltic Inflows, and phytoplankton species distribution and new scenario simulations with improved models, e.g. for glaciers, lake ice and marine food web, have become available. In many cases, uncertainties can now be better estimated than before, because more models can be included in the ensembles, especially for the Baltic Sea. With the help of coupled models, feedbacks between several components of the Earth System have been studied and multiple driver studies were performed, e.g. projections of the food web that include fisheries, eutrophication and climate change. New data sets and projections have led to a revised understanding of changes in some variables such as salinity. Furthermore, it has become evident that natural variability, in particular for the ocean on multidecadal time scales, is greater than previously estimated, challenging our ability to detect observed and projected changes in climate. In this context, the first paleoclimate simulations regionalized for the Baltic Sea region are instructive. Hence, estimated uncertainties for the projections of many variables increased. In addition to the well-known influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation, it was found that also other low-frequency modes of internal variability, such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability, have profound effects on the climate of the Baltic Sea region. Challenges were also identified, such as the systematic discrepancy between future cloudiness trends in global and regional models and the difficulty of confidently attributing large observed changes in marine ecosystems to climate change. Finally, we compare our results with other coastal sea assessments, such as the North Sea Region Climate Change Assessment (NOSCCA) and find that the effects of climate change on the Baltic Sea differ from those on the North Sea, since Baltic Sea oceanography and ecosystems are very different from other coastal seas such as the North Sea. While the North Sea dynamics is dominated by tides, the Baltic Sea is characterized by brackish water, a perennial vertical stratification in the southern sub-basins and a seasonal sea ice cover in the northern sub-basins.

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Disentangling temporal food web dynamics facilitates understanding of ecosystem functioning

Abstract: This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as

Cited by 49 publications

References 61 publications

Global climate change and the Baltic Sea ecosystem: direct and indirect effects on species, communities and ecosystem functioning

Global climate change and the Baltic Sea ecosystem: direct and indirect effects on species, communities and ecosystem functioning

DNA metabarcoding reveals trophic niche diversity of micro and mesozooplankton species

Climate Change in the Baltic Sea Region: A Summary

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