Ecosystem engineering strengthens bottom-up and weakens top-down effects via trait-mediated indirect interactions.

ABSTRACT: Trophic interactions and ecosystem engineering are ubiquitous and powerful forces structuring ecosystems, yet how these processes interact to shape natural systems is poorly understood. Moreover, trophic effects can be driven by both density- and trait-mediated interactions. Microcosm studies demonstrate that trait-mediated interactions may be as strong as density-mediated interactions, but the relative importance of these pathways at natural spatial and temporal scales is underexplored. Here, we integrate large-scale field experiments and microcosms to examine the effects of ecosystem engineering on trophic interactions while also exploring how ecological scale influences density- and trait-mediated interaction pathways. We demonstrate that (i) ecosystem engineering can shift the balance

SUBMITTER: Zhong Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5627195 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature