Agricultural Food Subsidies, Migratory Connectivity and Large-Scale Disturbance in Arctic Coastal Systems: A Case Study1
An allochthonous input can modify trophic relationships, by providing an external resource that is normally limiting within a system. The subsidy may not only elicit a growth response of the primary producers via a bottom-up effect, but it also may lead to runaway herbivore growth in the absence of...
Published in: | Integrative and Comparative Biology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
2004
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.130 |
id |
ftbioone:10.1093/icb/44.2.130 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftbioone:10.1093/icb/44.2.130 2024-06-02T08:02:17+00:00 Agricultural Food Subsidies, Migratory Connectivity and Large-Scale Disturbance in Arctic Coastal Systems: A Case Study1 R. L. Jefferies R. F. Rockwell K. F. Abraham R. L. Jefferies R. F. Rockwell K. F. Abraham world 2004-04-01 text/HTML https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.130 en eng The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology doi:10.1093/icb/44.2.130 All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.130 Text 2004 ftbioone https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.130 2024-05-07T00:53:50Z An allochthonous input can modify trophic relationships, by providing an external resource that is normally limiting within a system. The subsidy may not only elicit a growth response of the primary producers via a bottom-up effect, but it also may lead to runaway herbivore growth in the absence of increased predation. If the consumer is migratory and predation is similarly dampened in the alternative system, the increased numbers may produce a top-down cascade of direct and indirect effects on an ecosystem that may be a great distance from the source of the subsidy. In an extreme case, it can lead to a catastrophic shift in ecosystem functioning as a result of biotic exploitation that produces an alternative stable state. The loss of resilience is particularly sensitive to herbivore density which can result in two different outcomes to the vegetation on which the consumer feeds. Over-compensatory growth of above-ground biomass gives way to sward destruction and near irreversible changes in soil properties as density of a herbivore increases. A striking temporal asymmetry exists between a reduction in the consumer population and recovery of damaged vegetation and degraded soils. Text Arctic BioOne Online Journals Arctic Integrative and Comparative Biology 44 2 130 139 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
BioOne Online Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftbioone |
language |
English |
description |
An allochthonous input can modify trophic relationships, by providing an external resource that is normally limiting within a system. The subsidy may not only elicit a growth response of the primary producers via a bottom-up effect, but it also may lead to runaway herbivore growth in the absence of increased predation. If the consumer is migratory and predation is similarly dampened in the alternative system, the increased numbers may produce a top-down cascade of direct and indirect effects on an ecosystem that may be a great distance from the source of the subsidy. In an extreme case, it can lead to a catastrophic shift in ecosystem functioning as a result of biotic exploitation that produces an alternative stable state. The loss of resilience is particularly sensitive to herbivore density which can result in two different outcomes to the vegetation on which the consumer feeds. Over-compensatory growth of above-ground biomass gives way to sward destruction and near irreversible changes in soil properties as density of a herbivore increases. A striking temporal asymmetry exists between a reduction in the consumer population and recovery of damaged vegetation and degraded soils. |
author2 |
R. L. Jefferies R. F. Rockwell K. F. Abraham |
format |
Text |
author |
R. L. Jefferies R. F. Rockwell K. F. Abraham |
spellingShingle |
R. L. Jefferies R. F. Rockwell K. F. Abraham Agricultural Food Subsidies, Migratory Connectivity and Large-Scale Disturbance in Arctic Coastal Systems: A Case Study1 |
author_facet |
R. L. Jefferies R. F. Rockwell K. F. Abraham |
author_sort |
R. L. Jefferies |
title |
Agricultural Food Subsidies, Migratory Connectivity and Large-Scale Disturbance in Arctic Coastal Systems: A Case Study1 |
title_short |
Agricultural Food Subsidies, Migratory Connectivity and Large-Scale Disturbance in Arctic Coastal Systems: A Case Study1 |
title_full |
Agricultural Food Subsidies, Migratory Connectivity and Large-Scale Disturbance in Arctic Coastal Systems: A Case Study1 |
title_fullStr |
Agricultural Food Subsidies, Migratory Connectivity and Large-Scale Disturbance in Arctic Coastal Systems: A Case Study1 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Agricultural Food Subsidies, Migratory Connectivity and Large-Scale Disturbance in Arctic Coastal Systems: A Case Study1 |
title_sort |
agricultural food subsidies, migratory connectivity and large-scale disturbance in arctic coastal systems: a case study1 |
publisher |
The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.130 |
op_coverage |
world |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.130 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1093/icb/44.2.130 |
op_rights |
All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/44.2.130 |
container_title |
Integrative and Comparative Biology |
container_volume |
44 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
130 |
op_container_end_page |
139 |
_version_ |
1800746788045455360 |