Dataset Information

Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities.

ABSTRACT: The global distribution of primary production and consumption by humans (fisheries) is well-documented, but we have no map linking the central ecological process of consumption within food webs to temperature and other ecological drivers. Using standardized assays that span 105° of latitude on four continents, we show that rates of bait consumption by generalist predators in shallow marine ecosystems are tightly linked to both temperature and the composition of consumer assemblages. Unexpectedly, rates of consumption peaked at midlatitudes (25 to 35°) in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres across both seagrass and unvegetated sediment habitats. This pattern contrasts with terrestrial systems, where biotic interactions reportedly weaken away from the equator, but it parallels an emerging pattern of a subtropical peak in marine biodiversity. The higher consumption at midlatitudes was closely related to the type of consumers present, which explained rates of consumption better than consumer density, biomass, species diversity, or habitat. Indeed, the apparent effect of temperature on consumption was mostly driven by temperature-associated turnover in consumer community composition. Our findings reinforce the key influence of climate warming on altered species composition and highlight its implications for the functioning of Earth's ecosystems.

SUBMITTER: Whalen MA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7668042 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities.

Whalen Matthew A MA Whippo Ross D B RDB Stachowicz John J JJ York Paul H PH Aiello Erin E Alcoverro Teresa T Altieri Andrew H AH Benedetti-Cecchi Lisandro L Bertolini Camilla C Bresch Midoli M Bulleri Fabio F Carnell Paul E PE Cimon Stéphanie S Connolly Rod M RM Cusson Mathieu M Diskin Meredith S MS D'Souza Elrika E Flores Augusto A V AAV Fodrie F Joel FJ Galloway Aaron W E AWE Gaskins Leo C LC Graham Olivia J OJ Hanley Torrance C TC Henderson Christopher J CJ Hereu Clara M CM Hessing-Lewis Margot M Hovel Kevin A KA Hughes Brent B BB Hughes A Randall AR Hultgren Kristin M KM Jänes Holger H Janiak Dean S DS Johnston Lane N LN Jorgensen Pablo P Kelaher Brendan P BP Kruschel Claudia C Lanham Brendan S BS Lee Kun-Seop KS Lefcheck Jonathan S JS Lozano-Álvarez Enrique E Macreadie Peter I PI Monteith Zachary L ZL O'Connor Nessa E NE Olds Andrew D AD O'Leary Jennifer K JK Patrick Christopher J CJ Pino Oscar O Poore Alistair G B AGB Rasheed Michael A MA Raymond Wendel W WW Reiss Katrin K Rhoades O Kennedy OK Robinson Max T MT Ross Paige G PG Rossi Francesca F Schlacher Thomas A TA Seemann Janina J Silliman Brian R BR Smee Delbert L DL Thiel Martin M Unsworth Richard K F RKF van Tussenbroek Brigitta I BI Vergés Adriana A Yeager Mallarie E ME Yednock Bree K BK Ziegler Shelby L SL Duffy J Emmett JE

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20201026 45

The global distribution of primary production and consumption by humans (fisheries) is well-documented, but we have no map linking the central ecological process of consumption within food webs to temperature and other ecological drivers. Using standardized assays that span 105° of latitude on four continents, we show that rates of bait consumption by generalist predators in shallow marine ecosystems are tightly linked to both temperature and the composition of consumer assemblages. Unexpectedly ...[more]

PMID: 33106409

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Dataset Information

Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities.

Publications

Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities.

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