Modeling spatial patterns of limits to production of deposit-feeders and ectothermic predators in the northern Bering Sea

Lovvorn, James R.; Jacob, Ute; North, Christopher A.; Kolts, Jason M.; Grebmeier, Jacqueline M.; Cooper, Lee W.; Cui, Xuehua

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2014.12.020

Cited by 15 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…On the shallow and often stormy northern Bering Sea shelf, high levels of stochastic environmental disturbance might result in variable assemblage structure with little effect of species interactions (Harris, ; Harris & Hughes, ). Based on spatial patterns of food web structure and function, Lovvorn, Jacob, et al () suggested that assemblages throughout the study area were strongly influenced by recruitment events after abiotic disturbances, and that interactions among species had less influence than priority effects of variable recolonization. However, subsequent food‐web simulations indicated that certain deposit‐feeding taxa respond more strongly to changes in sediment OC and the resulting production of bacterial foods, an effect that is transmitted to higher trophic levels (Lovvorn et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Data analysed in this paper were also used in the food‐web modelling of Lovvorn, Jacob, et al () and Lovvorn et al (). Benthic organisms and sediment organic matter were sampled in the northern Bering Sea from 18 May to 12 June 2007 from the US Coast Guard icebreaker Healy (Figure ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At each station (Figure ), standing stocks of chlorophyll a and total organic carbon were measured in the top 1 cm of sediments (Cooper et al, ). Chlorophyll a (chl a ) was converted to g C of fresh microalgae by the ratio 34 g C (g chl a ) −1 (details of data and calculations can be found in the supplementary material for Lovvorn, Jacob, et al, ). Some chlorophyll may persist in sediments for long periods (Pirtle‐Levy, Grebmeier, Cooper, & Larsen, ), and would be included in ‘fresh’ microalgae.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Large areas of soft sediments on continental shelves of the Amerasian Arctic are dominated by deposit feeders and filter feeders. These organisms feed mostly on settled microalgae (ice algae and phytoplankton), and especially on bacteria that consume algal‐derived organic matter (Lovvorn, Jacob, et al, ; McTigue & Dunton, ; North et al, ). As a result, spatial patterns of benthic taxa are often strongly related to the organic carbon (OC) content of the sediments (Blanchard & Feder, ; Carroll & Ambrose, ; Denisenko, Denisenko, Lehtonen, Andersin, & Laine, ; Grebmeier, Cooper, Feder, & Sirenko, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The smaller particles that typically occur with increased sediment OC can clog the gills of filter feeders, reducing their abundance relative to deposit feeders (Newcombe & MacDonald, 1991). Finally, sediment OC is proportional to food inputs at the base of food webs, which can limit the energy transmitted to higher trophic levels, thereby altering assemblage structure and species interactions (Lovvorn, Jacob, et al, 2015;McTigue & Dunton, 2014;North et al, 2014;Rosenberg, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sediment organic carbon integrates changing environmental conditions to predict benthic assemblages in shallow Arctic seas

Lovvorn

North

Grebmeier

et al. 2018

Aquatic Conservation

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In marine spatial planning, conserving adequate habitats and the food webs they support requires delineating habitats and projecting future trends. For bottom‐feeding marine birds and mammals, repeated benthic sampling over large areas to document changes and to develop predictive models of prey dispersion is quite costly. More easily monitored variables that relate strongly to the biomass and structure of benthic assemblages, and are more readily predicted from physical models of climate change, would facilitate planning efforts. The organic carbon (OC) content of sediments integrates diverse physical and biotic processes, and can be less variable over time than primary production, salinity, temperature, or position of water masses. Sediment OC further subsumes inputs at the base of food webs that can limit carbon flows to higher taxa. For the northern Bering Sea, this study explored the utility of sediment OC as a predictor of benthic assemblage types. Cluster analysis and multi‐dimensional scaling distinguished three main types along a gradient of sediment OC. The assemblage for highest sediment OC had a much greater biomass of brittlestars, diverse marine worms, and two mid‐sized, thinner‐shelled bivalves selected as prey by diving sea ducks. The assemblage for lowest sediment OC lacked brittlestars, had a much greater biomass of amphipods sought by gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), and had a much higher biomass of two often larger or thicker‐shelled bivalves commonly targeted by walruses (Odobenus rosmarus). Areas of exceptionally low sediment OC tended towards dominance by sand dollars with low foraging value. Our study shows that sediment OC has promise as a proxy for monitoring and predicting changes in important prey assemblages in a given region. Models that link predicted hydrographic patterns to lateral advection of phytodetritus, and the resulting sediment OC, may further allow the use of physical climate models to project the future dispersion of benthic habitats for endothermic predators.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sediment organic carbon integrates changing environmental conditions to predict benthic assemblages in shallow Arctic seas

Lovvorn

North

Grebmeier

et al. 2018

Aquatic Conservation

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Feeding on epibenthic zooplankton by Long‐tailed Ducks: patch structure, profitability, and food web implications

Lovvorn

Brooks

2021

Ecosphere

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Models of the trophic needs and impacts of mobile predators in food web networks typically do not consider interactions between prey dispersion and threshold prey densities needed for profitable foraging. As a result, the biomass of predators that can be supported, or direct and indirect impacts of those predators on other food web components, may be poorly estimated. In Simpson Lagoon on the U.S. Arctic coast, epibenthic amphipods and especially mysid shrimp comprised most of the diets of fish, and of Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis) which strongly dominated prey consumption. Based on mean prey densities and gross estimates of prey biomass consumed, earlier studies estimated that continuous immigration of mysids into the lagoon was needed to support the predators. Comparison of variances from net samples vs. different probability density functions (PDFs) around reported means indicated that prey were not normally distributed, and instead occurred in patches with a skewed and wide range of densities. We used the functional response of captive Long-tailed Ducks eating mysids, and a foraging energetics model, to identify minimum prey densities these diving ducks needed to feed profitably. Based on PDFs that assumed prey densities in all 1-m 2 cells (patches for single feeding dives on potential mysid swarms) were independent, we simulated prey grids with slightly skewed to highly skewed distributions for the reported sample means. Results showed that the greater the range of patch densities, the smaller the fraction of prey biomass that was profitably available to the ducks, thereby increasing the requisite immigration of mysids. Consumption by ectothermic predators further decreased prey available and advanced the date and increased the amount of mysid influx required. The models also showed that the birds had to seek areas with non-independent clusters of high-density feeding patches as prey declined in late summer. Thus, spatially continuous measures of patch structure over larger scales are needed to estimate the fraction of prey that is functionally available. Our study emphasizes that when estimating trophic needs and impacts of mobile endothermic predators, simple means of prey density can be misleading, owing to interactions of prey patch structure with profitability thresholds.

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Modeling Patterns and Controls of Food Web Structure in Saline Wetlands of a Rocky Mountain Basin

Lovvorn¹

2022

Ecosystems

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Modeling spatial patterns of limits to production of deposit-feeders and ectothermic predators in the northern Bering Sea

Cited by 15 publications

References 73 publications

Sediment organic carbon integrates changing environmental conditions to predict benthic assemblages in shallow Arctic seas

Sediment organic carbon integrates changing environmental conditions to predict benthic assemblages in shallow Arctic seas

Feeding on epibenthic zooplankton by Long‐tailed Ducks: patch structure, profitability, and food web implications

Modeling Patterns and Controls of Food Web Structure in Saline Wetlands of a Rocky Mountain Basin

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