Shorter food chain length in ancient lakes: evidence from a global synthesis.

Food webs may be affected by evolutionary processes, and effective evolutionary time ultimately affects the probability of species evolving to fill the niche space. Thus, ecosystem history may set important evolutionary constraints on community composition and food web structure. Food chain length (...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hideyuki Doi, M Jake Vander Zanden, Helmut Hillebrand
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3368915?pdf=render
id doaj-ad57944053e746f2a990029f13090955
record_format Article
spelling doaj-ad57944053e746f2a990029f130909552020-11-25T02:42:37ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032012-01-0176e3785610.1371/journal.pone.0037856Shorter food chain length in ancient lakes: evidence from a global synthesis.Hideyuki DoiM Jake Vander ZandenHelmut HillebrandFood webs may be affected by evolutionary processes, and effective evolutionary time ultimately affects the probability of species evolving to fill the niche space. Thus, ecosystem history may set important evolutionary constraints on community composition and food web structure. Food chain length (FCL) has long been recognized as a fundamental ecosystem attribute. We examined historical effects on FCL in large lakes spanning >6 orders of magnitude in age. We found that food chains in the world's ancient lakes (n = 8) were significantly shorter than in recently formed lakes (n = 10) and reservoirs (n = 3), despite the fact that ancient lakes harbored much higher species richness, including many endemic species. One potential factor leading to shorter FCL in ancient lakes is an increasing diversity of trophic omnivores and herbivores. Speciation could simply broaden the number of species within a trophic group, particularly at lower trophic levels and could also lead to a greater degree of trophic omnivory. Our results highlight a counter-intuitive and poorly-understood role of evolutionary history in shaping key food web properties such as FCL.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3368915?pdf=render
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Hideyuki Doi
M Jake Vander Zanden
Helmut Hillebrand
spellingShingle Hideyuki Doi
M Jake Vander Zanden
Helmut Hillebrand
Shorter food chain length in ancient lakes: evidence from a global synthesis.
PLoS ONE
author_facet Hideyuki Doi
M Jake Vander Zanden
Helmut Hillebrand
author_sort Hideyuki Doi
title Shorter food chain length in ancient lakes: evidence from a global synthesis.
title_short Shorter food chain length in ancient lakes: evidence from a global synthesis.
title_full Shorter food chain length in ancient lakes: evidence from a global synthesis.
title_fullStr Shorter food chain length in ancient lakes: evidence from a global synthesis.
title_full_unstemmed Shorter food chain length in ancient lakes: evidence from a global synthesis.
title_sort shorter food chain length in ancient lakes: evidence from a global synthesis.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
series PLoS ONE
issn 1932-6203
publishDate 2012-01-01
description Food webs may be affected by evolutionary processes, and effective evolutionary time ultimately affects the probability of species evolving to fill the niche space. Thus, ecosystem history may set important evolutionary constraints on community composition and food web structure. Food chain length (FCL) has long been recognized as a fundamental ecosystem attribute. We examined historical effects on FCL in large lakes spanning >6 orders of magnitude in age. We found that food chains in the world's ancient lakes (n = 8) were significantly shorter than in recently formed lakes (n = 10) and reservoirs (n = 3), despite the fact that ancient lakes harbored much higher species richness, including many endemic species. One potential factor leading to shorter FCL in ancient lakes is an increasing diversity of trophic omnivores and herbivores. Speciation could simply broaden the number of species within a trophic group, particularly at lower trophic levels and could also lead to a greater degree of trophic omnivory. Our results highlight a counter-intuitive and poorly-understood role of evolutionary history in shaping key food web properties such as FCL.
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3368915?pdf=render
work_keys_str_mv AT hideyukidoi shorterfoodchainlengthinancientlakesevidencefromaglobalsynthesis
AT mjakevanderzanden shorterfoodchainlengthinancientlakesevidencefromaglobalsynthesis
AT helmuthillebrand shorterfoodchainlengthinancientlakesevidencefromaglobalsynthesis
_version_ 1724772582565085184