IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v15y2024i1d10.1038_s41467-024-48279-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Temperature alters the predator-prey size relationships and size-selectivity of Southern Ocean fish

Author

Listed:
  • Patrick Eskuche-Keith

    (University of Essex
    British Antarctic Survey)

  • Simeon L. Hill

    (British Antarctic Survey)

  • Lucía López-López

    (Oceanographic Centre of Santander (CN IEO, CSIC))

  • Benjamin Rosenbaum

    (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
    Friedrich Schiller University Jena)

  • Ryan A. Saunders

    (British Antarctic Survey)

  • Geraint A. Tarling

    (British Antarctic Survey)

  • Eoin J. O’Gorman

    (University of Essex)

Abstract

A primary response of many marine ectotherms to warming is a reduction in body size, to lower the metabolic costs associated with higher temperatures. The impact of such changes on ecosystem dynamics and stability will depend on the resulting changes to community size-structure, but few studies have investigated how temperature affects the relative size of predators and their prey in natural systems. We utilise >3700 prey size measurements from ten Southern Ocean lanternfish species sampled across >10° of latitude to investigate how temperature influences predator-prey size relationships and size-selective feeding. As temperature increased, we show that predators became closer in size to their prey, which was primarily associated with a decline in predator size and an increase in the relative abundance of intermediate-sized prey. The potential implications of these changes include reduced top-down control of prey populations and a reduction in the diversity of predator-prey interactions. Both of these factors could reduce the stability of community dynamics and ecosystem resistance to perturbations under ocean warming.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick Eskuche-Keith & Simeon L. Hill & Lucía López-López & Benjamin Rosenbaum & Ryan A. Saunders & Geraint A. Tarling & Eoin J. O’Gorman, 2024. "Temperature alters the predator-prey size relationships and size-selectivity of Southern Ocean fish," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-48279-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48279-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48279-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-48279-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Angus Atkinson & Simeon L. Hill & Evgeny A. Pakhomov & Volker Siegel & Christian S. Reiss & Valerie J. Loeb & Deborah K. Steinberg & Katrin Schmidt & Geraint A. Tarling & Laura Gerrish & Sévrine F. Sa, 2019. "Krill (Euphausia superba) distribution contracts southward during rapid regional warming," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 9(2), pages 142-147, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nora-Charlotte Pauli & Clara M. Flintrop & Christian Konrad & Evgeny A. Pakhomov & Steffen Swoboda & Florian Koch & Xin-Liang Wang & Ji-Chang Zhang & Andrew S. Brierley & Matteo Bernasconi & Bettina M, 2021. "Krill and salp faecal pellets contribute equally to the carbon flux at the Antarctic Peninsula," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. M. S. Clark & J. I. Hoffman & L. S. Peck & L. Bargelloni & D. Gande & C. Havermans & B. Meyer & T. Patarnello & T. Phillips & K. R. Stoof-Leichsenring & D. L. J. Vendrami & A. Beck & G. Collins & M. W, 2023. "Multi-omics for studying and understanding polar life," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Afonso Ferreira & Carlos R. B. Mendes & Raul R. Costa & Vanda Brotas & Virginia M. Tavano & Catarina V. Guerreiro & Eduardo R. Secchi & Ana C. Brito, 2024. "Climate change is associated with higher phytoplankton biomass and longer blooms in the West Antarctic Peninsula," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. E. L. Cavan & N. Mackay & S. L. Hill & A. Atkinson & A. Belcher & A. Visser, 2024. "Antarctic krill sequester similar amounts of carbon to key coastal blue carbon habitats," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Jeroen Ingels & Richard B. Aronson & Craig R. Smith & Amy Baco & Holly M. Bik & James A. Blake & Angelika Brandt & Mattias Cape & David Demaster & Emily Dolan & Eugene Domack & Spencer Fire & Heidi Ge, 2021. "Antarctic ecosystem responses following ice‐shelf collapse and iceberg calving: Science review and future research," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), January.
    6. Per Unneberg & Mårten Larsson & Anna Olsson & Ola Wallerman & Anna Petri & Ignas Bunikis & Olga Vinnere Pettersson & Chiara Papetti & Astthor Gislason & Henrik Glenner & Joan E. Cartes & Leocadio Blan, 2024. "Ecological genomics in the Northern krill uncovers loci for local adaptation across ocean basins," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-29, December.
    7. Lavenia Ratnarajah & Rana Abu-Alhaija & Angus Atkinson & Sonia Batten & Nicholas J. Bax & Kim S. Bernard & Gabrielle Canonico & Astrid Cornils & Jason D. Everett & Maria Grigoratou & Nurul Huda Ahmad , 2023. "Monitoring and modelling marine zooplankton in a changing climate," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Matthew S. Savoca & Mehr Kumar & Zephyr Sylvester & Max F. Czapanskiy & Bettina Meyer & Jeremy A. Goldbogen & Cassandra M. Brooks, 2024. "Whale recovery and the emerging human-wildlife conflict over Antarctic krill," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-48279-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.