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Who eats whom in the Barents Sea: a food web topology from plankton to whales
Author(s) -
Planque Benjamin,
Primicerio Raul,
Michalsen Kathrine,
Aschan Michaela,
Certain Grégoire,
Dalpadado Padmini,
Gjøsæater Harald,
Hansen Cecilie,
Johannesen Edda,
Jørgensen Lis Lindal,
Kolsum Ina,
Kortsch Susanne,
Leclerc Lise-Marie,
Omli Lena,
Skern-Mauritzen Mette,
Wiedmann Magnus
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/13-1062.1
Subject(s) - trophic level , food web , ecology , marine ecosystem , plankton , ecosystem , ecological network , food chain , network topology , computer science , topology (electrical circuits) , geography , biology , mathematics , combinatorics , operating system
A food web is an ecological network and its topological description consists of the list of nodes, i.e., trophospecies, the list of links, i.e., trophic interactions, and the direction of interactions (who is the prey and who is the predator). Food web topologies are widely used in ecology to describe structural properties of communities or ecosystems. The selection of trophospecies and trophic interactions can be realized in different manners so that many different food webs may be constructed for the same community. In the Barents Sea, many simple food webs have been constructed. We present a comprehensive food web topology for the Barents Sea ecosystem, from plankton to marine mammals. The protocol used to compile the data set includes rules for the selection of taxa and for the selection and documentation of the trophic links. The resulting topology, which includes 244 taxa and 1589 trophic links, can serve as a basis for topological analyses, comparison with other marine ecosystems, or as a basis to build simulation models of the Barents Sea ecosystem. The data set consists of three related tables: (1) the list of taxa, (2) the list of pairwise interactions, and (3) the list of bibliographical references.