Article
Ecology
Willem Bonnaffe, Alain Danet, Stephane Legendre, Eric Edeline
Summary: The study finds that the effects of temperature on food web structure depend on different levels of biological organization, leading to complex changes in network structure and functioning with warming.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Quentin Groom, Nadja Pernat, Tim Adriaens, Maarten de Groot, Sven D. Jelaska, Angeliki F. Martinou, Jiri Skuhrovec, Elena Tricarico, Ernst C. Wit, Helen E. Roy, Diana Marciulyniene
Summary: In the future, digital data on species interactions will be easily accessible, covering all species, life stages, and habitats, with citizen science playing a key role in collecting these data. Improvements in gathering species interaction data through citizen science can be achieved by providing feedback, leveraging various data sources, and eliciting emotional connections to enhance scientific knowledge and enrich the experience of citizens in ecological research.
Article
Entomology
Pengxiang Wu, Kai Shi, Tianhao Zhang, Megan L. Head, Runzhi Zhang
Summary: The fall armyworm poses a significant threat to Chinese agriculture and native species. The impact of fall armyworm abundance on native abundance and community metrics depends on the trophic level. Lower trophic levels experience greater declines in native abundance and community metrics at lower fall armyworm abundances, while higher trophic levels are not significantly affected. The negative impacts on community diversit and evenness are stronger than on species richness.
JOURNAL OF PEST SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biology
Victor Maull, Ricard Sole
Summary: This paper addresses the response of a community to the introduction of a synthetic strain derived from a member of a stable ecosystem. The study shows that the community interaction matrix largely limits the spread of the engineered strain, highlighting the ecological firewall provided by species diversity.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Emanuele Giacomuzzo, Ferenc Jordan
Summary: Aggregation methods in food web simulations have varying effects on key species, with hierarchical clustering using the REGE index producing the best results. Other algorithms are useful for studying specific network processes but must be used cautiously to avoid masking important species.
Article
Ecology
Sergio Timoteo, Jorg Albrecht, Beatriz Rumeu, Ana C. Norte, Anna Traveset, Carol M. Frost, Elizabete Marchante, Francisco A. Lopez-Nunez, Guadalupe Peralta, Jane Memmott, Jens M. Olesen, Jose M. Costa, Luis P. da Silva, Luisa G. Carvalheiro, Marta Correia, Michael Staab, Nico Bluthgen, Nina Farwig, Sandra Hervias-Parejo, Sergei Mironov, Susana Rodriguez-Echeverria, Ruben Heleno
Summary: Keystone species play a disproportionately important role in ecosystem functioning. This study examines whether their importance extends across different types of interactions and ecological niche dimensions. The results show that keystone species importance is positively associated across multiple niche dimensions and is independent of abundance. This has important implications for ecosystem resilience and conservation.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Rhian Evans, Philina A. English, Stephane Gauthier, Clifford L. K. Robinson
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between fine-scale oceanographic variability and larger-scale climate events with spring variability in euphausiid biomass in the northeast Pacific Ocean. The research used long-term datasets from Vancouver Island to quantify the effects of warm events on species-specific euphausiid biomass. The results showed that the effects of warm events were not always observable and varied across small spatial scales. Euphausiid biomass was significantly correlated with positive phases of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Pei-Jen L. Shaner, Yin-Kai Chen, Yu-Cheng Hsu
Summary: The study examined niche-trait relationships in three passerine species in Taiwan and found that individual uniqueness in isotope niche and bill morphology were positively associated across the species. Furthermore, isotope niche width and bill variation at the population level were also positively associated, supporting the niche variation hypothesis.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Emma Ladouceur, Jennifer McGowan, Patrick Huber, Hugh Possingham, Davide Scridel, Roel van Klink, Peter Poschlod, Johannes Hans C. Cornelissen, Costantino Bonomi, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro
Summary: Researchers developed a framework to optimize plant seed mixes based on prioritizing plant species attributes to support different ecological restoration objectives. They found that trophic relationships, ecosystem functions and services can be captured more efficiently through objective-based prioritization using the functional identity of plant species.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Gabriel M. Moulatlet, Wesley Dattilo, Fabricio Villalobos
Summary: Bird-plant seed-dispersal networks play important roles in ecosystems. The drivers determining species centrality in these networks vary depending on the level of network organization, with range size being the most important driver at the global meta-network level, and body mass being the only significant driver at the local network level. This suggests that prediction of species functional roles in seed-dispersal interactions requires both local and global approaches.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Leonard Dupont, Priscilla Le Mezo, Olivier Aumont, Laurent Bopp, Corentin Clerc, Christian Ethe, Olivier Maury
Summary: Despite the ecological and economic importance of high trophic levels (HTLs) in ocean carbon dynamics, their impact on passive and active processes is still largely unexplored, especially under climate change scenarios. This study compares two simulations of a global biogeochemical-ecosystem model with and without feedbacks from large marine animals, finding that these animals have little influence on anthropogenic carbon uptake under the RCP8.5 scenario but do affect low trophic level biomasses and ecosystem equilibrium.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Bianca de Sousa Rangel, Neil Hammerschlag, Renata Guimaraes Moreira
Summary: The field of marine urban ecology is a growing area of research. This study investigated the influence of urbanization on the dietary patterns and nutritional quality of nurse sharks, finding that urban sharks had lower nutritional quality than non-urban sharks, which may have long-term consequences on their health and growth.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
G. Boldrocchi, D. Spanu, M. Mazzoni, M. Omar, I Baneschi, C. Boschi, L. Zinzula, R. Bettinetti, D. Monticelli
Summary: The study investigated the presence and organotropism of trace elements in three tissues of 12 elasmobranch species. Results showed similar TE loads in different shark species, but different tissues had varying levels of different trace elements, illustrating the need for caution when selecting tissues for sampling.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Sean M. Hayes, Kurt E. Anderson
Summary: A central goal of ecology is identifying the mechanisms that allow large, complex food webs to persist. Spatial mechanisms resulting from dispersal connections among local food webs are one factor shown to play a significant role in enabling species persistence, particularly by driving asynchrony in the dynamics among local food webs. Our analyses quantify the tendency of modeled food webs to achieve asynchrony in the presence of dispersal and show that this positively affects the ability of species in the food web to persist. We observe an inverse relationship between the ability of food webs to persist when isolated and their tendency to be asynchronous when spatial, indicating a limited ability of food webs that persist when isolated to benefit from spatial persistence mechanisms.
COMMUNICATIONS IN NONLINEAR SCIENCE AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Hardware & Architecture
Sahar Ahmadi Khah, Ali Barati, Hamid Barati
Summary: This paper presents a dynamic and multi-level key management method for wireless sensor networks. The method utilizes a MAC-based authentication mechanism and divides the network into different levels and clusters. The proposed approach achieves efficient key establishment and rekeying processes while minimizing energy consumption and communication overhead.
Article
Ecology
Agnes Moreh, Anett Endredi, Sandor Imre Piross, Ferenc Jordan
Summary: The study examines the importance of additivity in the face of anthropogenic changes, highlighting its critical role in shaping strategy and management decisions. The research further investigates the community effects of single species extinction and multiple local impacts on different species, evaluating their cumulative responses.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Roberto A. Uribe, Marco Ortiz, Ferenc Jordan
Summary: The study in the coastal ecosystem at the Antofagasta Peninsula found that kelp forests and urchin barrens exhibit different successional pathways and number of stages, indicating a potential influence of self-organizing processes. This difference may have implications for conservation and monitoring practices.
Article
Ecology
Nathalie Niquil, Marco Scotti, Rhoda Fofack-Garcia, Matilda Haraldsson, Maud Thermes, Aurore Raoux, Francois Le Loc'h, Camille Maze
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Catarina Gouveia, Agnes Moreh, Ferenc Jordan
Summary: Network analysis in ecology provides tools to study graph models, centrality indices can indicate important species and quantify their importance in ecosystems.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Anett Endredi, Katalin Patonai, Janos Podani, Simone Libralato, Ferenc Jordan
Summary: This study analyzed food web data from 92 aquatic ecosystems and found relationships between traits and food web positions of organisms, such as benthic organisms being richly connected and mobile organisms occupying higher food web positions.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Katalin Patonai, Ferenc Jordan
Summary: In the era of bioinformatics and big data, this study compiled trophic connections of the Danube River ecosystem from globally available literature data. Data were analyzed by region and an integrated master network version, identifying disparities between regions, determining the most important trophic groups, and explaining methods for evaluating missing data at each aggregation stage. This data-driven approach can be used to prepare preliminary models and refine the Danube River food web in the future.
Article
Ecology
Rainer Froese, Eva Papaioannou, Marco Scotti
Summary: This study examines the impact of climate change and overfishing on fish stocks in the Western Baltic Sea. The findings suggest that overfishing and inappropriate size selectivity of fishing gear are the primary causes of the decline in spawning stock biomass of cod and herring, rather than climate change.
ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Marco Scotti, Cristina Bondavalli, Giampaolo Rossetti, Antonio Bodini
Summary: Empirical evidence for the expected trends in ecosystem development is lacking. This study used long-term empirical data from Lake Santo, a small mountain lake in the northern Apennines, Italy, to reconstruct its developmental trajectory. The findings suggest that the lake evolved towards increased stability at the expense of energy transfer efficiency. These results challenge previous hypotheses and suggest that Lake Santo followed an unimpeded developmental trajectory rather than a stress-induced trajectory. The long-term trends in network indices also provided insights into the health status of the ecosystem.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Esteban Acevedo-Trejos, Mathilde Cadier, Subhendu Chakraborty, Bingzhang Chen, Shun Yan Cheung, Maria Grigoratou, Christian Guill, Christiane Hassenrueck, Onur Kerimoglu, Toni Klauschies, Christian Lindemann, Artur Palacz, Alexey Ryabov, Marco Scotti, S. Lan Smith, Selina Vage, Friederike Prowe
Summary: This article presents established modeling approaches to studying plankton ecology and diversity, discussing the limitations and strengths of each approach. The article emphasizes the different spatial and temporal resolutions of these approaches and considers the potential of these approaches as tools to address societal challenges.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Editorial Material
Ecology
Katalin Patonai, Ursula Scharler, Marco Scotti, Ferenc Jordan
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marco Scotti, Silvia Opitz, Liam MacNeil, Axel Kreutle, Christian Pusch, Rainer Froese
Summary: This study presents the first mass-balanced ecosystem model focused on the western Baltic Sea (WBS) and explores the impact of different fishery scenarios. The results show that ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) promotes the recovery of species and fisheries resources, as well as increasing carbon sequestration.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Carlos Lozano Fondon, Marco Scotti, Michele Innangi, Cristina Bondavalli, Anna De Marco, Amalia Virzo De Santo, Antonietta Fioretto, Cristina Menta, Antonio Bodini
Summary: Forest soils are home to diverse organisms that play a crucial role in processing organic matter and sustaining soil ecosystem functioning. This study investigates how soil food webs shape carbon flows and highlights the importance of indirect interactions and generalist feeding habits in carbon transfer efficiency and network resilience. Furthermore, the findings suggest that food web structure rather than environmental variability is the main factor affecting carbon flows in beech forests.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Sun-Hee Lee, Marco Scotti, Sukgeun Jung, Jiang-Shiou Hwang, Juan Carlos Molinero
Summary: Temperate fisheries are affected by the combined effects of jellyfish blooms and fishing pressure. This study explores the link between climate variability, jellyfish blooms, and their impact on Japanese anchovy in Korean coastal waters. The results show that climate phenomena explain approximately half of jellyfish variability, and jellyfish blooms have a significant negative effect on anchovy interannual changes. The intensity of jellyfish blooms, rather than their duration, has the predominant effect on anchovy and coastal fisheries production.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Ioannis Keramidas, Donna Dimarchopoulou, Eyal Ofir, Marco Scotti, Athanassios C. Tsikliras, Gideon Gal
Summary: The aim of the study was to develop food web models using the EwE software tool to describe European marine ecosystems. A total of 195 Ecopath models based on 168 scientific publications were reviewed. Most models and publications focused on the western Mediterranean Sea. The EwE modelling approach provides a quantitative framework to analyze ecosystem structure and dynamics.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Thomas Trombetta, Francesca Vidussi, Cecile Roques, Sebastien Mas, Marco Scotti, Behzad Mostajir
Summary: Through long-term monitoring and data collection, this study found that water temperature plays a key role in determining the composition and structure of plankton communities in coastal waters. Additionally, factors such as light and wind speed also have an impact on plankton communities.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)