Article
Competitive displacement alters top-down effects on carbon dioxide concentrations in a freshwater ecosystem
Oecologia
(2014)
Abstract
Climate change and invasive species have the potential to alter species diversity, creating novel species interactions. Interspecific competition and facilitation between predators may either enhance or dampen trophic cascades, ultimately influencing total predator effects on communities and biogeochemical cycling of ecosystems. However, previous studies have only investigated the effects of a single predator species on CO2 flux of aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we measured and compared the individual and joint effects of predatory damselfly larvae and diving beetles on total prey biomass, leaf litter processing, and dissolved CO2 concentrations of experimental bromeliad ecosystems. Damselfly larvae created strong trophic cascades that reduced CO2 concentrations by ~46 % relative to no-predator treatments. Conversely, the effects of diving beetles on prey biomass, leaf litter processing, and dissolved CO2 were not statistically different to no-predator treatments. Relative to multiplicative null models, the presence of damselfly larvae and diving beetles together resulted in antagonistic relations that eliminated trophic cascades and top-down influences on CO2 concentrations.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2014
Citation Information
Edd Hammill. "Competitive displacement alters top-down effects on carbon dioxide concentrations in a freshwater ecosystem" Oecologia Vol. 175 Iss. 1 (2014) p. 353 - 361 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/edd-hammill/47/