Temporal and spatial changes in benthic invertebrate trophic networks along a salinity gradient

Species interactions underlie all ecosystem goods and services and are important for understanding ecosystem changes. Representing one type of species interaction, trophic networks are able to be constructed from biodiversity monitoring data and known trophic links to understand how ecosystems have changed over time. The Baltic Sea is subject to high anthropogenic pressures, and its low species diversity makes it an ideal candidate for understanding how pressures change food webs. In this study, we used benthic monitoring data from 20 years (1980-1989 and 2010-2019) from the Swedish coast of the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak to investigate changes in benthic invertebrate trophic interactions. We constructed food webs and calculated traditional food web metrics that we compared over space and time. Our results show that the west coast of Sweden (Skagerrak) showed a reduction in benthic invertebrate biodiversity by 40% between the 1980’s and 2010’s, and that the number of links, linkage divers...

物种相互作用是所有生态系统产品与服务的核心基础，对于解析生态系统变化具有关键意义。营养网络（trophic network）作为一类物种相互作用形式，可基于生物多样性监测数据与已明确的营养联系构建，用于探究生态系统随时间的演变规律。波罗的海（Baltic Sea）面临高强度人为活动压力，且其物种多样性水平较低，成为解析人为压力如何改变食物网（food web）的理想研究对象。本研究采用波罗的海瑞典沿岸与斯卡格拉克海峡（Skagerrak）1980-1989年、2010-2019年共20年的底栖生物监测数据，探究底栖无脊椎动物的营养相互作用变化。我们构建了食物网并计算了传统食物网指标，随后开展时空维度的对比分析。研究结果显示，在1980年代至2010年代间，瑞典西海岸（斯卡格拉克海峡）的底栖无脊椎动物生物多样性下降了40%，而营养联系数量、联系多样性……