Spatial patterns and dynamic responses of arctic food webs corroborate the exploitation ecosystems hypothesis (EEH)

The American Naturalist
Maano AunapuuHans Olav Hygen

Abstract

According to the exploitation ecosystems hypothesis (EEH), productive terrestrial ecosystems are characterized by community-level trophic cascades, whereas unproductive ecosystems harbor food-limited grazers, which regulate community-level plant biomass. We tested this hypothesis along arctic-alpine productivity gradients at the Joatka field base, Finnmark, Norway. In unproductive habitats, mammalian predators were absent and plant biomass was constant, whereas herbivore biomass varied, reflecting the productivity of the habitat. In productive habitats, predatory mammals were persistently present and plant biomass varied in space, but herbivore biomass did not. Plant biomass of productive tundra scrublands declined by 40% when vegetation blocks were transferred to predation-free islands. Corresponding transfer to herbivore-free islands triggered an increase in plant biomass. Fertilization of an unproductive tundra heath resulted in a fourfold increase in rodent density and a corresponding increase in winter grazing activity, whereas the total aboveground plant biomass remained unchanged. These results corroborate the predictions of the EEH, implying that the endotherm community and the vegetation of the North European tundra be...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 29, 2009·Oecologia·Kulbhushansingh Ramesh SuryawanshiCharudutt Mishra
Jun 19, 2009·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Mike LetnicChristopher R Dickman
Jul 10, 2013·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Johan OlofssonLars Ericson
Apr 26, 2013·The American Naturalist·James A EstesMary E Power
Sep 17, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·John W Terborgh
Jun 25, 2016·Nature Communications·Ulrike HerzschuhJulie Brigham-Grette
Mar 12, 2020·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Katariina E M VuorinenJames D M Speed
Dec 13, 2017·Nature Communications·Colette L Ward, Kevin S McCann
Oct 2, 2021·Scientific Reports·Matthias B Siewert, Johan Olofsson

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