| Interaction strength combinations and the overfishing of a marine food web. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 15802468 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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The stability of ecological communities largely depends on the strength of interactions between predators and their prey. Here we show that these interaction strengths are structured nonrandomly in a large Caribbean marine food web. Specifically, the cooccurrence of strong interactions on two consecutive levels of food chains occurs less frequently than expected by chance. Even when they occur, these strongly interacting chains are accompanied by strong omnivory more often than expected by chance. By using a food web model, we show that these interaction strength combinations reduce the likelihood of trophic cascades after the overfishing of top predators. However, fishing selectively removes predators that are overrepresented in strongly interacting chains. Hence, the potential for strong community-wide effects remains a threat. |
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Authors:
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Jordi Bascompte; Carlos J Melián; Enric Sala |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2005-03-31 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Volume: 102 ISSN: 0027-8424 ISO Abbreviation: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. Publication Date: 2005 Apr |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2005-04-13 Completed Date: 2005-06-03 Revised Date: 2010-09-21 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 7505876 Medline TA: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 5443-7 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Apartado Postal 1056, E-41080 Seville, Spain. bascompte@ebd.csic.es |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Diet Fisheries* / methods, statistics & numerical data Fishes / physiology* Food Chain* Models, Biological* Predatory Behavior / physiology* |
| Comments/Corrections | |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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