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Food web structure in Mediterranean streams: exploring stabilizing forces in these ecosystems

Food web structure in Mediterranean streams: exploring stabilizing forces in these ecosystems We constructed the food webs of six Mediterranean streams in order to determine ecological generalities derived from analysis of their structure and to explore stabilizing forces within these ecosystems. Fish, macroinvertebrates, primary producers and detritus are the components of the studied food webs. Analysis focused on a suite of food web properties that describe species’ trophic habits, linkage complexity and food chains. A great structural similarity was found in analyzed food webs; we therefore suggest average values for the structural properties of Mediterranean stream food webs. Percentage of omnivorous species was positively correlated with connectance, and there was a predominance of intermediate trophic level species that had established simple links with detritus. In short, our results suggest that omnivory and the weak interactions of detritivores have a stabilizing role in these food webs. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Aquatic Ecology Springer Journals

Food web structure in Mediterranean streams: exploring stabilizing forces in these ecosystems

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References (55)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Subject
Life Sciences; Ecosystems; Freshwater & Marine Ecology
ISSN
1386-2588
eISSN
1573-5125
DOI
10.1007/s10452-012-9400-5
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

We constructed the food webs of six Mediterranean streams in order to determine ecological generalities derived from analysis of their structure and to explore stabilizing forces within these ecosystems. Fish, macroinvertebrates, primary producers and detritus are the components of the studied food webs. Analysis focused on a suite of food web properties that describe species’ trophic habits, linkage complexity and food chains. A great structural similarity was found in analyzed food webs; we therefore suggest average values for the structural properties of Mediterranean stream food webs. Percentage of omnivorous species was positively correlated with connectance, and there was a predominance of intermediate trophic level species that had established simple links with detritus. In short, our results suggest that omnivory and the weak interactions of detritivores have a stabilizing role in these food webs.

Journal

Aquatic EcologySpringer Journals

Published: May 29, 2012

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