Predator traits determine food-web architecture across ecosystems
Predator traits determine food-web architecture across ecosystems
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DOI：
10.1038/s41559-019-0899-x
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发表时间：
2019-06-01
影响因子：
16.8
通讯作者：
Iles, Alison C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Brose, Ulrich;Archambault, Phillippe;Iles, Alison C.
在自然生态系统中，捕食者-猎物的相互作用产生了复杂的食物网，这些食物网具有简单的通用体型结构，其中捕食者系统地大于其猎物。食物网理论表明，在自然食物网中发现的最高捕食者-被捕食者体重比可能特别重要，因为它们产生了缓慢动态的弱相互作用，稳定了群落，使其免受扰动，并维持生态系统的功能。识别真实的社区中这些重要的相互作用通常需要艰难地识别复杂食物网中的相互作用。在这里，我们通过开发捕食者特征模型来克服这一障碍，该模型基于一个数据库来预测平均体重比，该数据库包括来自各大洲淡水，海洋和陆地生态系统的290个食物网。我们分析了物种特征如何通过改变捕食者-猎物体重比例的斜率来约束体型结构。在整个生态系统中，我们发现具有特定特征组合的捕食者群体的体重比很高，包括（1）小型脊椎动物和（2）大型游泳或飞行捕食者。包括代谢和运动类型的捕食者增加了预测哪些物种从事高体质量比的相互作用的准确性。我们证明，物种特征解释了自然食物网的体型结构中的惊人模式，这些模式支撑着生态系统的稳定性和功能，为最复杂的自然生态系统的社区级管理铺平了道路。
Predator-prey interactions in natural ecosystems generate complex food webs that have a simple universal body-size architecture where predators are systematically larger than their prey. Food-web theory shows that the highest predator-prey body-mass ratios found in natural food webs may be especially important because they create weak interactions with slow dynamics that stabilize communities against perturbations and maintain ecosystem functioning. Identifying these vital interactions in real communities typically requires arduous identification of interactions in complex food webs. Here, we overcome this obstacle by developing predator-trait models to predict average body-mass ratios based on a database comprising 290 food webs from freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems across all continents. We analysed how species traits constrain body-size architecture by changing the slope of the predator-prey body-mass scaling. Across ecosystems, we found high body-mass ratios for predator groups with specific trait combinations including (1) small vertebrates and (2) large swimming or flying predators. Including the metabolic and movement types of predators increased the accuracy of predicting which species are engaged in high body-mass ratio interactions. We demonstrate that species traits explain striking patterns in the body-size architecture of natural food webs that underpin the stability and functioning of ecosystems, paving the way for community-level management of the most complex natural ecosystems.