Premium
Warming modifies trophic cascades and eutrophication in experimental freshwater communities
Author(s) -
Kratina Pavel,
Greig Hamish S.,
Thompson Patrick L.,
Carvalho-Pereira Ticiana S. A.,
Shurin Jonathan B.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/11-1595.1
Subject(s) - eutrophication , trophic level , trophic cascade , environmental science , mesocosm , biomass (ecology) , phytoplankton , ecosystem , ecology , global warming , productivity , freshwater ecosystem , climate change , nutrient , food web , biology , macroeconomics , economics
Climate warming is occurring in concert with other anthropogenic changes to ecosystems. However, it is unknown whether and how warming alters the importance of top‐down vs. bottom‐up control over community productivity and variability. We performed a 16‐month factorial experimental manipulation of warming, nutrient enrichment, and predator presence in replicated freshwater pond mesocosms to test their independent and interactive impacts. Warming strengthened trophic cascades from fish to primary producers, and it decreased the impact of eutrophication on the mean and temporal variation of phytoplankton biomass. These impacts varied seasonally, with higher temperatures leading to stronger trophic cascades in winter and weaker algae blooms under eutrophication in summer. Our results suggest that higher temperatures may shift the control of primary production in freshwater ponds toward stronger top‐down and weaker bottom‐up effects. The dampened temporal variability of algal biomass under eutrophication at higher temperatures suggests that warming may stabilize some ecosystem processes.