Environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem.
Long-term changes in the physical environment in the Antarctic Peninsula region have significant potential for affecting populations of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), a keystone food web species. In order to investigate this, we analysed data on krill-eating predators at South Georgia from 198...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:1088617 2023-05-15T14:05:17+02:00 Environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem. Reid, K Croxall, J P 2001-02-22 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1088617 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11270434 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2000.1371 en eng http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1088617 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11270434 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2000.1371 Article Text 2001 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2000.1371 2013-08-30T08:43:50Z Long-term changes in the physical environment in the Antarctic Peninsula region have significant potential for affecting populations of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), a keystone food web species. In order to investigate this, we analysed data on krill-eating predators at South Georgia from 1980 to 2000. Indices of population size and reproductive performance showed declines in all species and an increase in the frequency of years of low reproductive output. Changes in the population structure of krill and its relationship with reproductive performance suggested that the biomass of krill within the largest size class was sufficient to support predator demand in the 1980s but not in the 1990s. We suggest that the effects of underlying changes in the system on the krill population structure have been amplified by predator-induced mortality, resulting in breeding predators now regularly operating close to the limit of krill availability. Understanding how krill demography is affected by changes in physical environmental factors and by predator consumption and how, in turn, this influences predator performance and survival, is one of the keys to predicting future change in Antarctic marine ecosystems. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Peninsula Euphausia superba PubMed Central (PMC) Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 268 1465 377 384 |
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Article Reid, K Croxall, J P Environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem. |
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Article |
description |
Long-term changes in the physical environment in the Antarctic Peninsula region have significant potential for affecting populations of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), a keystone food web species. In order to investigate this, we analysed data on krill-eating predators at South Georgia from 1980 to 2000. Indices of population size and reproductive performance showed declines in all species and an increase in the frequency of years of low reproductive output. Changes in the population structure of krill and its relationship with reproductive performance suggested that the biomass of krill within the largest size class was sufficient to support predator demand in the 1980s but not in the 1990s. We suggest that the effects of underlying changes in the system on the krill population structure have been amplified by predator-induced mortality, resulting in breeding predators now regularly operating close to the limit of krill availability. Understanding how krill demography is affected by changes in physical environmental factors and by predator consumption and how, in turn, this influences predator performance and survival, is one of the keys to predicting future change in Antarctic marine ecosystems. |
format |
Text |
author |
Reid, K Croxall, J P |
author_facet |
Reid, K Croxall, J P |
author_sort |
Reid, K |
title |
Environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem. |
title_short |
Environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem. |
title_full |
Environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem. |
title_fullStr |
Environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an Antarctic marine ecosystem. |
title_sort |
environmental response of upper trophic-level predators reveals a system change in an antarctic marine ecosystem. |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1088617 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11270434 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2000.1371 |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Peninsula Euphausia superba |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill Antarctic Peninsula Euphausia superba |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1088617 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11270434 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2000.1371 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2000.1371 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences |
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268 |
container_issue |
1465 |
container_start_page |
377 |
op_container_end_page |
384 |
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1766277099036868608 |