Movatterモバイル変換

[0]ホーム
URL:

Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
Thehttps:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

NIH NLM Logo
Log inShow account info
Access keysNCBI HomepageMyNCBI HomepageMain ContentMain Navigation
pubmed logo
Advanced Clipboard
User Guide

Full text links

Atypon full text link Atypon Free PMC article
Full text links

Actions

Share

.2002 Mar 19;99(6):3678-83.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.052028499. Epub 2002 Mar 12.

Community-wide distribution of predator-prey interaction strength in kelp forests

Affiliations

Community-wide distribution of predator-prey interaction strength in kelp forests

Enric Sala et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A..

Abstract

The strength of interactions between predators and their prey (interaction strength) varies enormously among species within ecological communities. Understanding the community-wide distribution of interaction strengths is vital, given that communities dominated by weak interactions may be more stable and resistant to invasion. In the oceans, previous studies have reported log-normal distributions of per capita interaction strength. We estimated the distribution of predator-prey interaction strengths within a subtidal speciose herbivore community (45 species). Laboratory experiments were used to determine maximum per capita interaction strengths for eight species of herbivores (including amphipods, isopods, gastropods, and sea urchins) that graze on giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) microscopic stages. We found that maximum per capita interaction strength saturated as a function of individual herbivore biomass, likely caused by predator/prey size thresholds. Incorporating this nonlinearity, we predicted maximum per capita interaction strength for the remaining herbivore species. The resulting distribution of per capita interaction strengths was bimodal, in striking contrast to previous reports from other communities. Although small herbivores often had per capita interaction strengths similar to larger herbivores, their tendency to have greater densities in the field increased their potential impact as grazers. These results indicate that previous conclusions about the distributions of interaction strength in natural communities are not general, and that intermediate-sized predators can under realistic circumstances represent the most effective consumers in natural communities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relationship between the biomass of individual herbivores and maximum per capita interaction strength onM. pyrifera microscopic sporophytes. The curve was fit to the data by using a Michaelis–Menten function [Eq. 2;y = 0.0138x/(4.23 +x)]. Data are means ± 95% confidence intervals. Variability in per capita interaction strength was estimated for each species by bootstrapping the data set 1,000 times (1). Ah,A. humeralis; Ir,I. resecata; Lu,L. undosum; Mc,M. carinata; Nn,N. norrisi; La,L. anamesus; Sf,S. franciscanus; Sp,S. purpuratus.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency distributions of average adult biomass (g) of taxa considered grazers onM. pyrifera microscopic sporophytes (a); daily per capita interaction strength (b); and logarithm of daily per capita interaction strength (c). Data are for the 8 experimental species and 37 species whose individual biomasses could be determined from the literature.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Paine R T. Nature (London) 1992;355:73–75.
    1. Wootton J T. Ecol Monogr. 1997;67:45–64.
    1. Ruesink J L. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1998;95:6843–6847. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Paine R T. Am Nat. 1969;103:91–93.
    1. Estes J A, Duggins D O. Ecol Monogr. 1995;65:75–100.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full text links
Atypon full text link Atypon Free PMC article
Cite
Send To

NCBI Literature Resources

MeSHPMCBookshelfDisclaimer

The PubMed wordmark and PubMed logo are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited.

[8]ページ先頭
©2009-2025 Movatter.jp