Modeling time-varying phytoplankton subsidy reveals at-risk species in a Chilean intertidal ecosystem

Abstract

The allometric trophic network (ATN) framework for modeling population dynamics has provided numerous insights into ecosystem functioning in recent years. Herein we extend ATN modeling of the intertidal ecosystem off central Chile to include empirical data on pelagic chlorophyll-a concentration. This intertidal community requires subsidy of primary productivity to support its rich ecosystem. Previous work models this subsidy using a constant rate of phytoplankton input to the system. However, data shows pelagic subsidies exhibit highly variable, pulse-like behavior. The primary contribution of our work is incorporating this variable input into ATN modeling to simulate how this ecosystem may respond to pulses of pelagic phytoplankton. Our model results show that: (1) closely related sea snails respond differently to phytoplankton variability, which is explained by the underlying network structure of the food web; (2) increasing the rate of pelagic-intertidal mixing increases fluctuations in species’ biomasses that may increase the risk of local extirpation; (3) predators are the most sensitive species to phytoplankton biomass fluctuations, putting these species at greater risk of extirpation than others. Finally, our work provides a straightforward way to incorporate empirical, time-series data into the ATN framework that will expand this powerful methodology to new applications.

Connected interactions: enriching food web research by spatial and social interactions

“…Much attention has turned recently to non-trophic interactions such as facilitation and mutualisms [ 15 , 16 ], which are now seen as pivotal to community organization and functioning [ 17 – 20 ], giving rise to the exciting new field of multiplex networks [ 20 – 24 ]. Furthermore, increased computing power, collaborations and data sharing, together with the rise of new technologies, is allowing ecologists to analyse the effect of spatial [ 25 , 26 ] and population structure [ 27 – 29 ] and physical variables [ 30 , 31 ] on the structure and dynamics of food webs. More recently, research opening new frontiers in network ecology is analysing how coupled natural-human systems would respond to environmental change, including in fisheries [ 30 , 32 , 33 ], ecosystem services [ 34 , 35 ] and human social conflicts [ 36 ].…”