1. Temperature, productivity, and habitat characteristics collectively drive lake food web structure
- Author
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Camille Leclerc, Nathalie Reynaud, Pierre‐Alain Danis, Florentina Moatar, Martin Daufresne, Christine Argillier, Philippe Usseglio‐Polatera, Valérie Verneaux, Nicolas Dedieu, Victor Frossard, Arnaud Sentis, Risques, Ecosystèmes, Vulnérabilité, Environnement, Résilience (RECOVER), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Pôle Écla - écosystèmes lacustres (ECLA), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), RiverLy - Fonctionnement des hydrosystèmes (RiverLy), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Environnements Continentaux (LIEC), Institut Ecologie et Environnement (INEE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Terre et Environnement de Lorraine (OTELo), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249) (LCE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC), Centre Alpin de Recherche sur les Réseaux Trophiques et Ecosystèmes Limniques (CARRTEL), Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), and ANR-19-CE02-0001,EcoTeBo,Conséquences écologiques des changements de taille induit par la température(2019)
- Subjects
trophic ecology ,Global and Planetary Change ,productivity ,Ecology ,aquatic ecosystem ,habitat ,Environmental Chemistry ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,climate ,freshwater ecosystem ,General Environmental Science - Abstract
International audience; While many efforts have been devoted to understand variations in food web structure among terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the environmental factors influencing food web structure at large spatial scales remain hardly explored. Here, we compiled biodiversity inventories to infer food web structure of 67 French lakes using an allometric niche-based model and tested how environmental variables (temperature, productivity, and habitat) influence them. By applying a multivariate analysis on 20 metrics of food web topology, we found that food web structural variations are represented by two distinct complementary and independent structural descriptors. The first is related to the overall trophic diversity, whereas the second is related to the vertical structure. Interestingly, the trophic diversity descriptor was mostly explained by habitat size (26.7% of total deviance explained) and habitat complexity (20.1%) followed by productivity (dissolved organic carbon: 16.4%; nitrate: 9.1%) and thermal variations (10.7%). Regarding the vertical structure descriptor, it was mostly explained by water thermal seasonality (39.0% of total deviance explained) and habitat depth (31.9%) followed by habitat complexity (8.5%) and size (5.5%) as well as annual mean temperature (5.6%). Overall, we found that temperature, productivity, and habitat characteristics collectively shape lake food web structure. We also found that intermediate levels of productivity, high levels of temperature (mean and seasonality), as well as large habitats are associated with the largest and most complex food webs. Our findings, therefore, highlight the importance of focusing on these three components especially in the context of global change, as significant structural changes in aquatic food webs could be expected under increased temperature, pollution, and habitat alterations.
- Published
- 2023