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Biomass encounter rates limit the size scaling of feeding interactions
Author(s) -
BarriosO’Neill Daniel,
Kelly Ruth,
Emmerson Mark C.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.13380
Subject(s) - biomass (ecology) , resource (disambiguation) , benthos , ecology , limiting , limit (mathematics) , ecosystem , consumption (sociology) , environmental science , scaling , computer science , environmental resource management , benthic zone , biology , mathematics , geometry , computer network , mathematical analysis , social science , sociology , engineering , mechanical engineering
The rate that consumers encounter resources in space necessarily limits the strength of feeding interactions that shape ecosystems. To explore the link between encounters and feeding, we first compiled the largest available dataset of interactions in the marine benthos by extracting data from published studies and generating new data. These data indicate that the size‐scaling of feeding interactions varies among consumer groups using different strategies (passive or active) to encounter different resource types (mobile or static), with filter feeders exhibiting the weakest feeding interactions. Next, we used these data to develop an agent‐based model of resource biomass encounter rates, underpinned by consumer encounter strategy and resource biomass density. Our model demonstrates that passive strategies for encountering small, dispersed resources limits biomass encounter rates, necessarily limiting the strength of feeding interactions. Our model is based on generalisable assumptions, providing a framework to assess encounter‐based drivers of consumption and coexistence across systems.