Structural Dynamics and Robustness of Southern North Sea Bentho-Demersal Food Webs

为定量确定环境扰动对北海南部生态系统的影响，制定一种新的一般性办法，对于更好地了解生态系统商品和服务至关重要。拟议项目的目的是揭示外部扰动(如海温上升)的变化对与底栖生物舱营养网络相关的主要功能和服务的影响。食物网作为所有营养关系的总和，构成了系统运行所必需的主要相互作用矩阵。这项研究将以德国专属经济区(EEZ)存在的优势物种协会为案例，评估北海南部海底-底层食物网的稳定性。食物网的结构将通过稳定的同位素特征和经典的饮食鉴定来分析。中心任务是全面的营养分析，结合底栖生物和底层鱼的多种食物链。重点是提取对营养网络稳定性贡献最大的核心营养相互作用。预期的结果将确定物种和功能特征对维持食物网完整性的重要性如何与对环境变化的敏感性相关。

Developing a new and general approach towards a quantitative determination of the impact of environmental disturbances on the southern North Sea ecosystem is essential for better understanding of ecosystem goods and services. The proposed project aims to reveal the effects of variability in external disturbances (e.g. sea temperature rise) on major functions and services coupled to the trophic network of the bentho-demersal compartment. The food web, as the sum of all trophic relationships, constitutes the major matrix of interactions essential for the functioning of the system. This study will evaluate the robustness of the benthos-demersal food webs of the southern North Sea, using as case studies the dominant species associations present in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Food web structures will be analyzed by means of stable isotope signatures and classical diet identification. The central task is a comprehensive trophic analysis that combines multiple food chains of the benthos and demersal fish. The emphasis is to extract the core trophic interactions that contribute most to the trophic network stability. The expected results will identify how the significance of species and functional traits for maintaining food web integrity correlate with sensitivity to environmental change.