THE PREDICTIVE POWER OF AQUATIC FOOD WEBS UNDER CHANGE: ATLANTIFICATION OF THE BARENTS SEA

Food webs provide a snapshot of a community with potential insight into the spatial-temporal dynamics of the investigated community. The trophic structure of aquatic communities is changing with climate change. One aspect is atlantification, where species from the Atlantic Ocean move north (e.g. to the Barents Sea). We present a recent case study from the Barents Sea showcasing the predictive power of network analysis in better understanding the ecological transformations happening within these aquatic ecosystems. Food webs for the Barents Sea are assembled based on spatial and temporal data sets in relation to atlantification. Spatio-temporal subsystems are assessed at three levels: the identity of key organisms, critically important interactions, and the entire food web. Additionally, we propose two novel indices for identifying key species based on loop analysis. The indices quantify the role a species plays in passing the impacts to other species, and their role as sinks of the perturbations. The Barents Sea shows that the appearance of an invasive fish species altered the predominantly bottom-up control (pre-invasion) to mixed community effects (post-invasion). Food webs can provide insight and prediction into community dynamics using these novel indices.

Presentation Preference: Oral

Primary Presenter: Katalin Patonai, Université de Montréal (kati.patonai@gmail.com)

Authors:

Katalin Patonai, Université de Montréal  (kati.patonai@gmail.com)

Greta Capelli, Dept of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma; Dept of Arctic and Marine Biology, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø University; Dept des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi  (greta.capelli24@gmail.com)

Antonio Bodini, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma  (antonio.bodini@unipr.it)

Raul Primicerio, Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, The Arctic University of Norway  (raul.primicerio@uit.no)

Ferenc Jordán, Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma; Institute of Biological Research Cluj Subsidiary, National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences  (jordan.ferenc@gmail.com)