Warming-Induced Changes to Body Size Stabilize Consumer-Resource Dynamics

The American Naturalist
Matthew M OsmondMary I O'Connor

Abstract

Both body size and temperature directly influence consumer-resource dynamics. There is also widespread empirical evidence for the temperature-size rule (TSR), which creates a negative relationship between temperature and body size. However, it is not known how the TSR affects community dynamics. Here we integrate temperature- and size-dependent models to include indirect effects of warming, through changes in body size, to answer the question, How does the TSR affect the predicted response of consumer-resource systems to warming? We find that the TSR is expected to maintain consumer-resource biomass ratios and buffer the community from extinctions under warming. While our results are limited to conditions where organisms are below their thermal optimum, they hold under a range of realistic temperature-size responses and are robust to the type of functional response. Our analyses suggest that the widely observed TSR may reduce the impacts of warming on consumer-resource systems.

Citations

Mar 1, 2019·Ecology Letters·Max LindmarkAnna Gårdmark
Jan 26, 2018·Ecology Letters·Nicholas Dos Anjos Cristiano MarinoVinicius Fortes Farjalla
Jun 4, 2020·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·David C FryxellEric P Palkovacs
Jun 28, 2020·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Natalie T JonesJonathan B Shurin
May 26, 2018·Nature·Thomas MerckxHans Van Dyck
May 25, 2021·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Matthew A Barbour, Jean P Gibert

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