Functional Responses Shape Node and Network Level Properties of a Simplified Boreal Food Web
Ecological communities are fundamentally connected through a network of trophic interactions that are often complex and difficult to model. Substantial variation exists in the nature and magnitude of these interactions across various predators and prey and through time. However, the empirical data n...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5c70d3dca03c45a48047c381bf137ef1 2023-05-15T18:50:30+02:00 Functional Responses Shape Node and Network Level Properties of a Simplified Boreal Food Web Jenilee Gobin Thomas J. Hossie Rachael E. Derbyshire Samuel Sonnega Tucker W. Cambridge Lee Scholl Nicolas Diaz Kloch Arthur Scully Kiefer Thalen Graeme Smith Carly Scott Francis Quinby Jordan Reynolds Hannah A. Miller Holly Faithfull Owen Lucas Christopher Dennison Jordan McDonald Stan Boutin Mark O’Donoghue Charles J. Krebs Rudy Boonstra Dennis L. Murray 2022-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.898805 https://doaj.org/article/5c70d3dca03c45a48047c381bf137ef1 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.898805/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.898805 https://doaj.org/article/5c70d3dca03c45a48047c381bf137ef1 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10 (2022) ecological communities interaction strength kill rate Lepus americanus Lynx canadensis predator functional response Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.898805 2022-12-31T02:34:49Z Ecological communities are fundamentally connected through a network of trophic interactions that are often complex and difficult to model. Substantial variation exists in the nature and magnitude of these interactions across various predators and prey and through time. However, the empirical data needed to characterize these relationships are difficult to obtain in natural systems, even for relatively simple food webs. Consequently, prey-dependent relationships and specifically the hyperbolic form (Holling’s Type II), in which prey consumption increases with prey density but ultimately becomes saturated or limited by the time spent handling prey, are most widely used albeit often without knowledge of their appropriateness. Here, we investigate the sensitivity of a simplified food web model for a natural, boreal system in the Kluane region of the Yukon, Canada to the type of functional response used. Intensive study of this community has permitted best-fit functional response relationships to be determined, which comprise linear (type I), hyperbolic (type II), sigmoidal (type III), prey- and ratio-dependent relationships, and inverse relationships where kill rates of alternate prey are driven by densities of the focal prey. We compare node- and network-level properties for a food web where interaction strengths are estimated using best-fit functional responses to one where interaction strengths are estimated exclusively using prey-dependent hyperbolic functional responses. We show that hyperbolic functional responses alone fail to capture important ecological interactions such as prey switching, surplus killing and caching, and predator interference, that in turn affect estimates of cumulative kill rates, vulnerability of prey, generality of predators, and connectance. Exclusive use of hyperbolic functional responses also affected trends observed in these metrics over time and underestimated annual variation in several metrics, which is important given that interaction strengths are typically estimated over ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Lynx Yukon Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Yukon Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
ecological communities interaction strength kill rate Lepus americanus Lynx canadensis predator functional response Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
ecological communities interaction strength kill rate Lepus americanus Lynx canadensis predator functional response Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Jenilee Gobin Thomas J. Hossie Rachael E. Derbyshire Samuel Sonnega Tucker W. Cambridge Lee Scholl Nicolas Diaz Kloch Arthur Scully Kiefer Thalen Graeme Smith Carly Scott Francis Quinby Jordan Reynolds Hannah A. Miller Holly Faithfull Owen Lucas Christopher Dennison Jordan McDonald Stan Boutin Mark O’Donoghue Charles J. Krebs Rudy Boonstra Dennis L. Murray Functional Responses Shape Node and Network Level Properties of a Simplified Boreal Food Web |
topic_facet |
ecological communities interaction strength kill rate Lepus americanus Lynx canadensis predator functional response Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Ecological communities are fundamentally connected through a network of trophic interactions that are often complex and difficult to model. Substantial variation exists in the nature and magnitude of these interactions across various predators and prey and through time. However, the empirical data needed to characterize these relationships are difficult to obtain in natural systems, even for relatively simple food webs. Consequently, prey-dependent relationships and specifically the hyperbolic form (Holling’s Type II), in which prey consumption increases with prey density but ultimately becomes saturated or limited by the time spent handling prey, are most widely used albeit often without knowledge of their appropriateness. Here, we investigate the sensitivity of a simplified food web model for a natural, boreal system in the Kluane region of the Yukon, Canada to the type of functional response used. Intensive study of this community has permitted best-fit functional response relationships to be determined, which comprise linear (type I), hyperbolic (type II), sigmoidal (type III), prey- and ratio-dependent relationships, and inverse relationships where kill rates of alternate prey are driven by densities of the focal prey. We compare node- and network-level properties for a food web where interaction strengths are estimated using best-fit functional responses to one where interaction strengths are estimated exclusively using prey-dependent hyperbolic functional responses. We show that hyperbolic functional responses alone fail to capture important ecological interactions such as prey switching, surplus killing and caching, and predator interference, that in turn affect estimates of cumulative kill rates, vulnerability of prey, generality of predators, and connectance. Exclusive use of hyperbolic functional responses also affected trends observed in these metrics over time and underestimated annual variation in several metrics, which is important given that interaction strengths are typically estimated over ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jenilee Gobin Thomas J. Hossie Rachael E. Derbyshire Samuel Sonnega Tucker W. Cambridge Lee Scholl Nicolas Diaz Kloch Arthur Scully Kiefer Thalen Graeme Smith Carly Scott Francis Quinby Jordan Reynolds Hannah A. Miller Holly Faithfull Owen Lucas Christopher Dennison Jordan McDonald Stan Boutin Mark O’Donoghue Charles J. Krebs Rudy Boonstra Dennis L. Murray |
author_facet |
Jenilee Gobin Thomas J. Hossie Rachael E. Derbyshire Samuel Sonnega Tucker W. Cambridge Lee Scholl Nicolas Diaz Kloch Arthur Scully Kiefer Thalen Graeme Smith Carly Scott Francis Quinby Jordan Reynolds Hannah A. Miller Holly Faithfull Owen Lucas Christopher Dennison Jordan McDonald Stan Boutin Mark O’Donoghue Charles J. Krebs Rudy Boonstra Dennis L. Murray |
author_sort |
Jenilee Gobin |
title |
Functional Responses Shape Node and Network Level Properties of a Simplified Boreal Food Web |
title_short |
Functional Responses Shape Node and Network Level Properties of a Simplified Boreal Food Web |
title_full |
Functional Responses Shape Node and Network Level Properties of a Simplified Boreal Food Web |
title_fullStr |
Functional Responses Shape Node and Network Level Properties of a Simplified Boreal Food Web |
title_full_unstemmed |
Functional Responses Shape Node and Network Level Properties of a Simplified Boreal Food Web |
title_sort |
functional responses shape node and network level properties of a simplified boreal food web |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.898805 https://doaj.org/article/5c70d3dca03c45a48047c381bf137ef1 |
geographic |
Canada Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Canada Yukon |
genre |
Lynx Yukon |
genre_facet |
Lynx Yukon |
op_source |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 10 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.898805/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2022.898805 https://doaj.org/article/5c70d3dca03c45a48047c381bf137ef1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.898805 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
10 |
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1766244228216651776 |