Seasonal changes in ecosystem linkages mediated by parasites

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24687003
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Ecology/Environment
• Research Institution: Kobe University (2013-2014); Kyoto University (2012)
• Principal Investigator: TAKUYA Sato 神戸大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (30456743)
• Research Collaborator: TOKUCHI Naoko 京都大学, フィールド科学教育研究センター, 教授 (60237071) ; RICHARDSON John S. University of British Coloumbia, Department of Forest & Conservation Science, Professor ; RANA El-Sabaawi University of Victoria, Department of Biology, Assistant Professor
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 宿主操作 / 生態系間相互作用 / エネルギー流

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Spatial resource subsidies that can influence community dynamics are temporally variable. However, we know little about the effects of their temporal pattern on community dynamics and ecosystem processes. We tested the effects of seasonality of the resource subsidies, terrestrial invertebrate inputs, on stream ecosystems using large-scale field experiments. We found large increases in the individual growth rates and population biomass of a recipient consumer in response to the early resource pulse, but not to the late pulse. This timing-dependent consumer response cascaded down to stream communities and ecosystem functions. Furthermore, the early resource pulse could influence consumer’s numerical response, suggesting the importance of the subsidy timing on long-term community dynamics. Our results emphasize the need to acknowledge timing-dependent consumer responses to subsidies, which can have cascading effects on community dynamics and ecosystem processes.

Free Research Field

群集生態学