Interconnecting global threats: climate change, biodiversity loss, and infectious diseases

The Lancet Planetary Health, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 8(4), P. e270 - e283

Published: April 1, 2024

The concurrent pressures of rising global temperatures, rates and incidence species decline, emergence infectious diseases represent an unprecedented planetary crisis. Intergovernmental reports have drawn focus to the escalating climate biodiversity crises connections between them, but interactions among all three been largely overlooked. Non-linearities dampening reinforcing make considering interconnections essential anticipating challenges. In this Review, we define exemplify causal pathways that link change, loss, disease. A literature assessment case studies show mechanisms certain pairs are better understood than others full triad is rarely considered. Although challenges evaluating these interactions—including a mismatch in scales, data availability, methods—are substantial, current approaches would benefit from expanding scientific cultures embrace interdisciplinarity integrating animal, human, environmental perspectives. Considering suite be transformative for health by identifying potential co-benefits mutually beneficial scenarios, highlighting where narrow on solutions one pressure might aggravate another.

Language: Английский

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Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton

PLoS Biology, Journal Year: 2015, Volume and Issue: 13(12), P. e1002324 - e1002324

Published: Dec. 17, 2015

Phytoplankton are key components of aquatic ecosystems, fixing CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and supporting secondary production, yet relatively little is known about how future global warming might alter their biodiversity associated ecosystem functioning. Here, we explore structure, function, a planktonic metacommunity was altered after five years experimental warming. Our outdoor mesocosm experiment open to natural dispersal regional species pool, allowing us effects in context dynamics. Warming 4°C led 67% increase richness phytoplankton, more evenly-distributed abundance, higher rates gross primary productivity. elevated productivity indirectly, by increasing biomass local phytoplankton communities. also systematically shifted taxonomic functional trait composition favoring large, colonial, inedible taxa, suggesting stronger top-down control, mediated zooplankton grazing played an important role. Overall, our findings suggest that temperature can modulate coexistence, such mechanisms, could, some cases,

Language: Английский

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Interactive effects of warming, eutrophication and size structure: impacts on biodiversity and food‐web structure

Global Change Biology, Journal Year: 2015, Volume and Issue: 22(1), P. 220 - 227

Published: Sept. 14, 2015

Abstract Warming and eutrophication are two of the most important global change stressors for natural ecosystems, but their interaction is poorly understood. We used a dynamic model complex, size‐structured food webs to assess interactive effects on diversity network structure. found antagonistic impacts: increases in eutrophic systems decreases it oligotrophic systems. These interact with community size structure: Communities similarly sized species such as parasitoid–host stabilized by warming destabilized eutrophication, whereas predator–prey networks strongly warming, only weakly eutrophication. Nonrandom extinction risks generalists specialists lead higher connectance without structure lower communities. Overall, our results unravel impacts suggest that may serve an proxy predicting sensitivity these stressors.

Language: Английский

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Linking zooplankton communities to ecosystem functioning: toward an effect-trait framework

Journal of Plankton Research, Journal Year: 2016, Volume and Issue: 39(1), P. 3 - 12

Published: Sept. 10, 2016

The renewed interest in trait-based approaches has offered a stimulating, conceptual framework for predicting species distributions, assessing community composition and determining biodiversity–ecosystem linkages. However, despite previous attempts to clarify trait terminology its application, selecting ecologically meaningful traits that mechanistically link levels of biological organization remains challenge aquatic ecology. Response can be used capture assembly processes along environmental gradients, while effect hold the potential predict ecosystem functions. Although related organismal physiology body best allow extrapolation from individuals processes, such are still rarely incorporated within plankton functional or classifications numerous reasons. Synthesizing current knowledge on zooplankton, we call better implementation metrics as descriptors structure. We then capitalize concepts bioenergetics ecology propose hierarchical zooplankton classification, identifying key fulfilling functions linking these likely influenced. Our provides insight regarding trade-offs, with implications feedbacks ecosystems, aiming bridge gap between biogeochemistry.

Language: Английский

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The Body Size Dependence of Trophic Cascades

The American Naturalist, Journal Year: 2015, Volume and Issue: 185(3), P. 354 - 366

Published: Jan. 27, 2015

Trophic cascades are indirect positive effects of predators on resources via control intermediate consumers. Larger-bodied appear to induce stronger trophic (a greater rebound resource density toward carrying capacity), but how this happens is unknown because we lack a clear depiction the strength determined. Using consumer models, first show that cascade has an upper limit set by interaction between basal group and its approached as predator increases. We then express explicitly in terms body size use two independent parameter sets calculate depends size. Both predict effect cascade, driven mostly dependence levels. Our results support previous empirical findings suggest loss larger will have consequences biomass structure food webs than smaller predators.

Language: Английский

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On the prevalence and dynamics of inverted trophic pyramids and otherwise top‐heavy communities

Ecology Letters, Journal Year: 2018, Volume and Issue: 21(3), P. 439 - 454

Published: Jan. 9, 2018

Abstract Classically, biomass partitioning across trophic levels was thought to add up a pyramidal distribution. Numerous exceptions have, however, been noted including complete inversions. Elevated of top‐heaviness (i.e. high consumer/resource ratios) have reported from Arctic tundra communities Brazilian phytotelmata, and in species assemblages as diverse those dominated by sharks ants. We highlight two major pathways for creating top‐heaviness, via: (1) endogenous channels that enhance energy transfer boundaries within community (2) exogenous into spatial temporal boundaries. Consumer–resource models allometric network combined with niche reveal the nature core mechanisms promoting top‐heaviness. Outputs these suggest top‐heavy can be stable, but they also sources instability. Humans are both increasing decreasing ecological consequences. Current future research on drivers help elucidate fundamental shape architecture govern flux between communities. Questions emerging study usefully draw attention incompleteness inconsistency which ecologists often establish definitional

Language: Английский

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Metabolic Theory and the Temperature-Size Rule Explain the Temperature Dependence of Population Carrying Capacity

The American Naturalist, Journal Year: 2018, Volume and Issue: 192(6), P. 687 - 697

Published: Oct. 22, 2018

The temperature dependence of highly conserved subcellular metabolic systems affects ecological patterns and processes across scales, from organisms to ecosystems. Population density at carrying capacity plays an important role in evolutionary processes, biodiversity, ecosystem function, yet how it varies with temperature-dependent metabolism remains unclear. Though the exponential effect on intrinsic population growth rate, r, is well known, we still lack clear evidence that capacity, K, declines increasing per capita as predicted by theory ecology (MTE). We experimentally tested whether effects photosynthesis propagate directly a model species, mobile phytoplankton Tetraselmis tetrahele. After maintaining populations fixed resource supply temperatures for 43 days, found declined temperature. This decline was quantitatively when models included rates temperature-associated body-size shifts. Our results demonstrate warming reduces body size rate interact determine dynamics. These findings bolster efforts relate via MTE.

Language: Английский

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The Evolution of Energetic Scaling across the Vertebrate Tree of Life

The American Naturalist, Journal Year: 2017, Volume and Issue: 190(2), P. 185 - 199

Published: May 31, 2017

Metabolism is the link between ecology and physiology-it dictates flow of energy through individuals across trophic levels. Much predictive power metabolic theories derives from scaling relationship organismal size rate. There growing evidence that this not universal, but we have little knowledge how it has evolved over macroevolutionary time. Here develop a novel phylogenetic comparative method to investigate often in which clades dynamics changed. We find strong shifted multiple times vertebrate phylogeny. However, shifts are rare otherwise strongly constrained. Importantly, both estimated slope intercept values vary widely regimes, with slopes spanned theoretically predicted such as 2/3 or 3/4. further tested whether traits ecto-/endothermy, genome size, quadratic curvature body mass (i.e., energetic constraints at extreme sizes) could explain observed pattern shifts. Though these factors help some variation parameters, much remaining remains elusive. Our results lay groundwork for exploration evolutionary ecological drivers major transitions strategy harnessing information improve macroecological predictions.

Language: Английский

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Functional responses are maximized at intermediate temperatures

Ecology, Journal Year: 2020, Volume and Issue: 101(4)

Published: Jan. 16, 2020

Functional responses describe how consumer foraging rates change with resource density. Despite extensive research looking at the factors underlying interactions, there remains ongoing controversy about temperature and body size control functional response parameters space clearance (or attack) rate handling time. Here, we investigate effects of temperature, mass, mass using largest compilation yet assembled. This contains 2,083 curves covering a wide range foragers prey types, environmental conditions, habitats. After accounting for experimental arena size, dimensionality interaction, taxon, find that both time are optimized intermediate temperatures (a unimodal rather than monotonic response), suggesting to global climate depends on location consumer's current relative optimum. We further confirm higher steeper large consumers small resources, models masses separately outperformed consumer:resource ratios, act independently set interaction strengths. Lastly, show extent which is affected by or taxonomic identity consumer-resource interaction. thus argue although overall can be identified, they not universal, therefore food web community modeling approaches could improved considering along effects.

Language: Английский

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Effects of temperature on consumer–resource interactions

Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal Year: 2014, Volume and Issue: 84(3), P. 665 - 679

Published: Nov. 20, 2014

Understanding how temperature variation influences the negative (e.g. self-limitation) and positive saturating functional responses) feedback processes that characterize consumer-resource interactions is an important research priority. Previous work on this topic has yielded conflicting outcomes with some studies predicting warming should increase oscillations others decrease oscillations. Here, I develop a model both synthesizes previous findings in common framework yields novel insights about effects dynamics. report three key findings. First, when resource species' birth rate exhibits unimodal response, as demonstrated by large number of empirical studies, range over which interaction can persist determined lower upper limits to reproduction. This contrasts predictions assume monotonic consumer extinction traits, rather than traits. Secondly, comparative analysis have conducted shows whether leads or depends manner affects intraspecific competition. When strength self-limitation increases monotonically temperature, causes However, if strongest at temperatures physiologically optimal for reproduction, scenario previously unanalysed theory but amply substantiated data, cause Thirdly, testable dynamics under alternative hypotheses competitive acquisition Importantly, it does so through empirically quantifiable metrics viability oscillations, obviates need parameterizing complex dynamical models. Tests these data host-parasitoid yield realistic estimates persistence propensity highlighting their utility effects, particularly warming, natural agricultural settings.

Language: Английский

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