Ecological network analysis of traits reveals variable response capacity to stress

Author:

Gladstone-Gallagher Rebecca V.12ORCID,Hewitt Judi E.1,Siwicka Ewa1,Gammal Johanna M.3,Brustolin Marco C.4,Norkko Alf2,Pilditch Conrad A.3,Thrush Simon F.1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

2. Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland

3. University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

4. Institute of Marine Research (IMR), Arendal, Norway

Abstract

Response diversity increases the potential ‘options’ for ecological communities to respond to stress (i.e. response capacity). An indicator of community response diversity is the diversity of different traits associated with their capacity to be resistant to stress, to recover and to regulate ecosystem functions. We conducted a network analysis of traits using benthic macroinvertebrate community data from a large-scale field experiment to explore the loss of response diversity along environmental gradients. We elevated sediment nutrient concentrations (a process that occurs with eutrophication) at 24 sites (in 15 estuaries) with varying environmental conditions (water column turbidity and sediment properties). Macroinvertebrate community response capacity to nutrient stress was dependent on the baseline trait network complexity in the ambient community (i.e. non-enriched sediments). The greater the complexity of the baseline network, the less variable the network response to nutrient stress was; in contrast, more variable responses to nutrient stress occurred with simpler networks. Thus, stressors or environmental variables that shift baseline network complexity also shift the capacity for these ecosystems to respond to additional stressors. Empirical studies that explore the mechanisms responsible for loss of resilience are essential to inform our ability to predict changes in ecological states.

Funder

New Zealand Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge Project 1.1

New Zealand Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge Tipping Points Project

New Zealand Rutherford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship

Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation, University of Helsinki

Publisher

The Royal Society

Subject

General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine

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