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Nutrient enrichment reduces constraints on material flows in a detritus-based food web

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Most aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are experiencing increased nutrient availability, which is affecting their structure and function. By altering community composition and productivity of consumers, enrichment can indirectly cause changes in the pathways and magnitude of material flows in food webs. These changes, in turn, have major consequences for material storage and cycling in the ecosystem. Understanding mechanisms and predicting consequences of nutrient-induced changes in material flows requires a quantitative food web approach that combines information on consumer energetics and consumer?resource stoichiometry.

Keywords

detritus-based food webs, ecological stoichiometry, ecosystem enrichment, elemental imbalance, invertebrate, material flow food web, secondary production, stream, trophic basis of production

Citation

Cross, Wyatt F.; Wallace, Bruce; Rosemond, Amy D. 2007. Nutrient enrichment reduces constraints on material flows in a detritus-based food web. Ecology, 88(10), 2007, pp. 2563?2575
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/31593