Size-based interactions across trophic levels in food webs of shallow Mediterranean lakes

Brucet S., Tavsanoglu U. N., Ozen A., Levi E. E., Bezirci G., Cakiroglu A. I., ...More

FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, vol.62, no.11, pp.1819-1830, 2017 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 62 Issue: 11
  • Publication Date: 2017
  • Doi Number: 10.1111/fwb.12997
  • Journal Name: FRESHWATER BIOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.1819-1830
  • Keywords: fish, phytoplankton, predator-prey interactions, size diversity, zooplankton, BODY-SIZE, CONTRASTING TEMPERATURES, PREDATOR DIVERSITY, FISH ASSEMBLAGES, CLIMATE-CHANGE, COMMUNITY, SPECTRA, PHYTOPLANKTON, PREY, CONSTRAINTS
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

1. Body size is a key trait of an organism which determines the dynamics of predator-prey interactions. Most empirical studies on the individual size distribution of the aquatic community have focused on the variations in body size of a single trophic level as a response to certain environmental variables or biotic factors. Few studies, however, have evaluated how individual size structure is altered simultaneously across interacting trophic levels and locations. Such comparative examinations of the size distribution in predator and prey communities may bring insight into the strength of the interactions between adjacent trophic levels.