Predator diversity and ecosystem functioning: density modifies the effect of resource partitioning

The link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is now well established, but the challenge remains to develop a mechanistic understanding of observed effects. Predator-prey interactions provide an opportunity to examine the role of resource partitioning, thought to be a principal mediator of biodiversity-function relationships. To date, interactions between multiple predators and their prey have typically been investigated in simplified agricultural systems with limited scope for resource partitioning. Thus there remains a dearth of studies examining the functional consequences of predator richness in diverse food webs. Here, we manipulated a species-rich intertidal food web, crossing predator diversity with total predator density, to simultaneously examine the independent and interactive effects of diversity and density on the efficiency of secondary resource capture. The effect of predator diversity was only detectable at high predator densities where competitive interactions between individual predators were magnified; the rate of resource capture within the species mixture more than doubled that of the best-performing single species. Direct observation of species-specific resource use in monoculture, as quantified by patterns of prey consumption, provided clear evidence that species occupied distinct functional niches, suggesting a mechanistic explanation of the observed diversity effect.     

From total suspended solids to molecular biology tools--a personal view of biological wastewater treatment process population dynamics

The development of the tools needed to study the population dynamics of biological wastewater treatment processes is traced from its beginnings in the early 1900s to today's use of molecular biology tools (Oerther and Love, 2003). Examples of the benefits of population dynamics research in improving the performance and aiding the design and operation of biological wastewater treatment processes are given. Some thoughts on future areas of study are presented.     

Arctic terrestrial biodiversity status and trends: A synopsis of science supporting the CBMP State of Arctic Terrestrial Biodiversity Report

Ambio - This review provides a synopsis of the main findings of individual papers in the special issue Terrestrial Biodiversity in a Rapidly Changing Arctic. The special issue was developed to...     

Development and Application of Protocols for the Determination of Response of Real-Time Particle Monitors to Common Indoor Aerosols

Abstract

Protocols have been developed and applied for the generation of aerosols that are likely to be comparable to those encountered in field settings for the calibration of easily transportable/portable real-time particle monitors. Aerosols generated were simulated environmental tobacco smoke, cedar wood smoke, cooking oil fumes, and propane stove particles. The time-integrated responses of three nephelometers and a monitor for particle-bound polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were compared with gravimetric respirable suspended particulate matter (RSP) in a controlled-atmosphere chamber. In general, the monitor responses increased linearly with increasing mass concentration. However, the two monitors that reported mass per volume concentrations tended to overreport the actual RSP concentrations by factors up to 4.4. The real-time PAH monitor did not respond to cooking oil fumes, indicative of little PAH being present in the aerosol. One of the monitors that has been used in a variety of studies reported in the literature (DustTrak) was collocated with gravimetric RSP samplers in several hospitality venues in the Louisville, KY, area. Field studies indicated that the units overreported actual RSP concentrations by factors of 2.6–3.1, depending on whether the sampling was conducted in the nonsmoking or smoking sections of the facilities.     

Variability in abundances of fishes associated with seagrass habitats in relation to diets of predatory fishes

The spatial, diel and tidal variability in the abundance of piscivorous fishes and their teleost prey, and the dietary composition of predatory fishes were investigated in beds of Heterozostera tasmanica within Port Phillip Bay, Australia, from September 1997 to February 1998. Predatory and prey fish assemblages were sampled from beds of H. tasmanica at three locations during each combination of diel (day and night) and tidal (high and low) cycles. Pelagic and benthic crustaceans represented >60% by abundance of the diets of all predatory fishes. Seven species, 54% of all predatory fishes, were piscivorous. These piscivores consumed individuals from seven families, 36.8% of the fish families being associated with seagrass. Western Australian salmon, Arripis truttacea (Arripidae) (n = 174) and yank flathead, Platycephalus speculator (Platycephalidae) (n = 46) were the most abundant piscivores. A. truttacea consumed larval/post-larval atherinids, gobiids and sillaginids. P. speculator consumed late-juvenile/adult atherinids, clinids and gobiids. While the abundances of piscivores varied between locations (P < 0.001) and diel periods (P = 0.028), the relative differences in piscivore abundance between sites and diel periods were not consistent between tides. The abundances of A. truttacea varied in a complex way amongst sites, diel period and tidal cycle, as shown by a three-way interaction between these factors (P = 0.026). Only during diurnal periods at St. Leonards was the abundance of A. truttacea significantly higher during high than low tides (P < 0.001). During the other diel periods at each site, the abundance of A. truttacea did not vary. P. speculator was significantly more abundant nocturnally (P = 0.017). The abundance of small (prey) fishes varied significantly amongst sites (P < 0.001). During the day, the abundance of small fishes did not vary between high and low tides (P = 0.185), but their nocturnal abundance was greater during low tide (P < 0.001). Atherinids (n = 1732) and sillaginids (n = 1623) were the most abundant families of small fishes. Atherinids were significantly more abundant nocturnally (P = 0.005) and during low tides (P = 0.029), and varied significantly amongst sites (P < 0.001). Sillaginids varied significantly only amongst sites (P < 0.001). Seagrass beds provide a foraging habitat for a diverse assemblage of predatory fishes, many of which are piscivorous. Anti-predator behaviour and amongst-location variability in abundances of piscivorous fishes may explain some of the diel and tidal, and broad-scale spatial patterns in small-fish abundances. Received: 23 July 1999 / Accepted: 18 January 2000     

Satellite-based decadal change assessments of pan-Arctic environments

Remote sensing can advance the work of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program through monitoring of satellite-derived terrestrial and marine physical and ecological variables. Standardized data facilitate an unbiased comparison across variables and environments. Using MODIS standard products of land surface temperature, percent snow covered area, NDVI, EVI, phenology, burned area, marine chlorophyll, CDOM, sea surface temperature, and marine primary productivity, significant trends were observed in almost all variables between 2000 and 2017. Analysis of seasonal data revealed significant breakpoints in temporal trends. Within the terrestrial environment, data showed significant increasing trends in land surface temperature and NDVI. In the marine environment, significant increasing trends were detected in primary productivity. Significantly earlier onset of green up date was observed in bioclimate subzones C&E and longer end of growing season in B&E. Terrestrial and marine parameters showed similar rates of change with unidirectional change in terrestrial and significant directional and magnitude shifts in marine.     

Phenotypic variation in shell form in the intertidal acorn barnacle Chthamalus montagui: distribution,response to predators and life history trade-offs

The acorn barnacle Chthamalus montagui can present strong variation in shell morphology, ranging from flat conic to a highly bent form, caused by a substantial overgrowth of the rostrum plate. Shell shape distribution was investigated between January and May 2004 from geographical to microhabitat spatial scales along the western coast of Britain. Populations studied in the north (Scotland and Isle of Man) showed a higher degree of shell variation compared to those in the south (Wales and south-west England). In the north, C. montagui living at lower tidal levels and in proximity to the predatory dogwhelk, Nucella lapillus, were more bent in profile. Laboratory experiments were conducted to examine behavioural responses, and vulnerability of bent and conic barnacles to predation by N. lapillus. Dogwhelks did not attack one morphotype more than the other, but only 15 % of attacks on bent forms were successful compared to 75 % in conic forms. Dogwhelk effluent reduced the time spent feeding by C. montagui (11 %), but there was no significant difference between conic and bent forms. Examination of barnacle morphology indicated a trade-off in investment in shell structure and feeding appendages associated with being bent, but none with egg or somatic tissue mass. These results are consistent with C. montagui showing an induced defence comparable to that found in its congeners Chthamalus anisopoma and Chthamalus fissus on the Pacific coast of North America, but further work to demonstrate inducibility is required.