Document Type
Article
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
11-10-2020
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
117
Issue
45
First Page
28160
Last Page
28166
Abstract
The global distribution of primary production and consumption by humans (fisheries) is well-documented, but we have no map linking the central ecological process of consumption within food webs to temperature and other ecological drivers. Using standardized assays that span 105° of latitude on four continents, we show that rates of bait consumption by generalist predators in shallow marine ecosystems are tightly linked to both temperature and the composition of consumer assemblages. Unexpectedly, rates of consumption peaked at midlatitudes (25 to 35°) in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres across both seagrass and unvegetated sediment habitats. This pattern contrasts with terrestrial systems, where biotic interactions reportedly weaken away from the equator, but it parallels an emerging pattern of a subtropical peak in marine biodiversity. The higher consumption at midlatitudes was closely related to the type of consumers present, which explained rates of consumption better than consumer density, biomass, species diversity, or habitat. Indeed, the apparent effect of temperature on consumption was mostly driven by temperature-associated turnover in consumer community composition. Our findings reinforce the key influence of climate warming on altered species composition and highlight its implications for the functioning of Earth’s ecosystems.
DOI
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2005255117
Keywords
Latitudinal gradients, trophic processes, seagrass, biogeography, macroecology
Recommended Citation
Whalen, M. A.; Whippo, R.D. B.; Stachowicz, J. J.; (...); Ross, Paige G.; and et al, Climate drives the geography of marine consumption by changing predator communities (2020). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(45), 28160-28166.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2005255117
