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Resource Competition and Selective Grazing of Plankton in a Multispecies Pelagic Food Web Model *
Author(s) -
Riegman Roel,
Kuipers Bouwe R.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
marine ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.668
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1439-0485
pISSN - 0173-9565
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0485.1994.tb00050.x
Subject(s) - pelagic zone , trophic level , plankton , food web , ecology , environmental science , eutrophication , ecosystem , competition (biology) , grazing , phytoplankton , biology , primary producers , microbial loop , nutrient
. An idealized mathematical, multispecies model of the pelagic foodweb was used to explore the impact of resource competition, selective grazing, and species composition within each trophic level on the structure and functioning of a foodweb at a variety of light irradiance and nutrient levels. This concept is based on the general assumption that poorly edible species are poor competitors. The concept demonstrates that with increasing eutrophication, specialists in competition will be replaced by generalists and subsequently by poorly edible primary producers. Controlling factors not only determine the growth rate of primary producers but also select predators according to their ability to utilize the energy fixation of the system. Plankton community structure seems to adapt in such a way that the energy fixation rate of the system is optimized at a given set of nutrients and light. Red tides, dense algal blooms in shallow lakes and the varying results of biomanipulation in shallow lakes, can be explained by the concept of selective grazing. If this assumption is correct, the same ecosystem concept may be applicable for terrestrial ecosystems.