Fish reintroductions reveal smooth transitions between lake community states

Ecology
Gary G MittelbachYoshinori Taniguchi

Abstract

Whether communities respond smoothly or discontinuously to changing environmental conditions has important consequences for the preservation and restoration of ecosystems. Theory shows that communities may exhibit a variety of responses to environmental change, including abrupt transitions due to the existence of alternate states. However, there have been few opportunities to look for such transitions in nature. Here, we examine the impact of a two-orders-of-magnitude decrease and then increase in planktivore abundance in Wintergreen lake (Michigan, USA), caused by the extinction and reintroduction of two dominant fish species (largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, and bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus). Over a 16 + yr period of slow change from high planktivory to low planktivory back to high planktivory, the zooplankton community changed smoothly and predictably between states. In years of low planktivory, the zooplankton assemblage was dominated by a single, large, cladoceran species, Daphnia pulicaria, whereas in years of high planktivory, D. pulicaria disappeared and was replaced by a suite of small-bodied cladocerans. We quantified the multivariate change in zooplankton community dissimilarity and found that community state...Continue Reading

References

Jul 28, 2004·The American Naturalist·Egbert H van Nes, Marten Scheffer
May 17, 2006·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Katharine N SudingGregory R Houseman

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Citations

Apr 2, 2013·Oecologia·William J MatthewsFrances Gelwick
Jun 8, 2010·BMC Evolutionary Biology·Katie S Costanzo, Derek J Taylor
Oct 31, 2008·Ecology·Andrew M KramerRoland A Knapp
Jan 24, 2007·The American Naturalist·Christopher F SteinerSigrid D P Smith
Dec 12, 2007·Ecology Letters·Jennifer G Howeth, Mathew A Leibold

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