Imperial College London
Alternate

Professor Guy Woodward - Deputy Head of Department

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences (Silwood Park)

Professor of Ecology
 
 
 
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Contact

 

guy.woodward

 
 
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Location

 

MunroSilwood Park

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Brose:2019:10.1038/s41559-019-0899-x,
author = {Brose, U and Archambault, P and Barnes, AD and Bersier, L-F and Boy, T and Canning-Clode, J and Conti, E and Dias, M and Digel, C and Dissanayake, A and Flores, AA and Fussmann, K and Gauzens, B and Gray, C and Haeussler, J and Hirt, MR and Jacob, U and Jochum, M and Kefi, S and McLaughlin, O and MacPherson, MM and Latz, E and Layer-Dobra, K and Legagneux, P and Li, Y and Madeira, C and Martinez, ND and Mendonca, V and Mulder, C and Navarrete, SA and O'Gorman, EJ and Ott, D and Paula, J and Perkins, D and Piechnik, D and Pokrovsky, I and Raffaelli, D and Rall, BC and Rosenbaum, B and Ryser, R and Silva, A and Sohlstroem, EH and Sokolova, N and Thompson, MSA and Thompson, RM and Vermandele, F and Vinagre, C and Wang, S and Wefer, JM and Williams, RJ and Wieters, E and Woodward, G and Iles, AC},
doi = {10.1038/s41559-019-0899-x},
journal = {Nature Ecology and Evolution},
pages = {919--927},
title = {Predator traits determine food-web architecture across ecosystems},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0899-x},
volume = {3},
year = {2019}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Predator–prey interactions in natural ecosystems generate complex food webs that have a simple universal body-size architecture where predators are systematically larger than their prey. Food-web theory shows that the highest predator–prey body-mass ratios found in natural food webs may be especially important because they create weak interactions with slow dynamics that stabilize communities against perturbations and maintain ecosystem functioning. Identifying these vital interactions in real communities typically requires arduous identification of interactions in complex food webs. Here, we overcome this obstacle by developing predator-trait models to predict average body-mass ratios based on a database comprising 290 food webs from freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems across all continents. We analysed how species traits constrain body-size architecture by changing the slope of the predator–prey body-mass scaling. Across ecosystems, we found high body-mass ratios for predator groups with specific trait combinations including (1) small vertebrates and (2) large swimming or flying predators. Including the metabolic and movement types of predators increased the accuracy of predicting which species are engaged in high body-mass ratio interactions. We demonstrate that species traits explain striking patterns in the body-size architecture of natural food webs that underpin the stability and functioning of ecosystems, paving the way for community-level management of the most complex natural ecosystems.
AU  - Brose,U
AU  - Archambault,P
AU  - Barnes,AD
AU  - Bersier,L-F
AU  - Boy,T
AU  - Canning-Clode,J
AU  - Conti,E
AU  - Dias,M
AU  - Digel,C
AU  - Dissanayake,A
AU  - Flores,AA
AU  - Fussmann,K
AU  - Gauzens,B
AU  - Gray,C
AU  - Haeussler,J
AU  - Hirt,MR
AU  - Jacob,U
AU  - Jochum,M
AU  - Kefi,S
AU  - McLaughlin,O
AU  - MacPherson,MM
AU  - Latz,E
AU  - Layer-Dobra,K
AU  - Legagneux,P
AU  - Li,Y
AU  - Madeira,C
AU  - Martinez,ND
AU  - Mendonca,V
AU  - Mulder,C
AU  - Navarrete,SA
AU  - O'Gorman,EJ
AU  - Ott,D
AU  - Paula,J
AU  - Perkins,D
AU  - Piechnik,D
AU  - Pokrovsky,I
AU  - Raffaelli,D
AU  - Rall,BC
AU  - Rosenbaum,B
AU  - Ryser,R
AU  - Silva,A
AU  - Sohlstroem,EH
AU  - Sokolova,N
AU  - Thompson,MSA
AU  - Thompson,RM
AU  - Vermandele,F
AU  - Vinagre,C
AU  - Wang,S
AU  - Wefer,JM
AU  - Williams,RJ
AU  - Wieters,E
AU  - Woodward,G
AU  - Iles,AC
DO  - 10.1038/s41559-019-0899-x
EP  - 927
PY  - 2019///
SN  - 2397-334X
SP  - 919
TI  - Predator traits determine food-web architecture across ecosystems
T2  - Nature Ecology and Evolution
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0899-x
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000470917200015&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-0899-x
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/84170
VL  - 3
ER  -
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