Kevin S. McCann
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691134178
- eISBN:
- 9781400840687
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691134178.003.0012
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
This chapter examines some of the potential empirical signatures of instability in complex adaptive food webs. It first considers the role of adaptive behavior on food web topology, ecosystem size, ...
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This chapter examines some of the potential empirical signatures of instability in complex adaptive food webs. It first considers the role of adaptive behavior on food web topology, ecosystem size, and interaction strength before discussing the implications of this behavior for ecosystem dynamics and stability. It then analyzes the results of empirical investigations of Canadian Shield lake trout food webs and how human influences and ecosystems coupled in space may drive biomass pyramids, potentially leading to species loss. It also explores the tendency of subsidies, through human impacts, to homogenize natural ecosytems and concludes by assessing some of the changing conditions that are being driven by humans and how these may change ecosystems.Less
This chapter examines some of the potential empirical signatures of instability in complex adaptive food webs. It first considers the role of adaptive behavior on food web topology, ecosystem size, and interaction strength before discussing the implications of this behavior for ecosystem dynamics and stability. It then analyzes the results of empirical investigations of Canadian Shield lake trout food webs and how human influences and ecosystems coupled in space may drive biomass pyramids, potentially leading to species loss. It also explores the tendency of subsidies, through human impacts, to homogenize natural ecosytems and concludes by assessing some of the changing conditions that are being driven by humans and how these may change ecosystems.
Nancy Langston
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300212983
- eISBN:
- 9780300231663
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300212983.003.0007
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Nature
Toxaphene offers a case study on the history of toxic contamination in Lake Superior fish. How did chemicals such as toxaphene make their way into fish in the postwar era? How did governments and ...
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Toxaphene offers a case study on the history of toxic contamination in Lake Superior fish. How did chemicals such as toxaphene make their way into fish in the postwar era? How did governments and communities around the Great Lakes struggle to comprehend and then control these toxics? This chapter explores the intersection of human culture with the pollutants that have made their way into water bodies — and the bodies of fish and the people who eat those fish — everywhere. Fish is a healthy source of protein that we’re encouraged to eat, and eating fish is also of great cultural significance to people, particularly tribal communities, throughout the Great Lakes region. But the potential toxicity of fish today forces people to make difficult trade-offs: How much fish do you eat when it’s culturally important? How much do you eat when you’re pregnant?Less
Toxaphene offers a case study on the history of toxic contamination in Lake Superior fish. How did chemicals such as toxaphene make their way into fish in the postwar era? How did governments and communities around the Great Lakes struggle to comprehend and then control these toxics? This chapter explores the intersection of human culture with the pollutants that have made their way into water bodies — and the bodies of fish and the people who eat those fish — everywhere. Fish is a healthy source of protein that we’re encouraged to eat, and eating fish is also of great cultural significance to people, particularly tribal communities, throughout the Great Lakes region. But the potential toxicity of fish today forces people to make difficult trade-offs: How much fish do you eat when it’s culturally important? How much do you eat when you’re pregnant?
James F. Kitchell and Greg G. Sass
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226871714
- eISBN:
- 9780226871745
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226871745.003.0012
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
This chapter focuses on major changes in the food web dynamics of Lakes Superior and Michigan that arose due to fisheries management programs and nonnative species invasions. It emphasizes both ...
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This chapter focuses on major changes in the food web dynamics of Lakes Superior and Michigan that arose due to fisheries management programs and nonnative species invasions. It emphasizes both native and nonnative species representing three trophic levels: (i) top predators in the food web (sea lamprey, stocked Pacific salmon, the native lake trout, and their prey); (ii) expansion of invading zooplankton-feeding fishes (alewife and rainbow smelt) at the middle of the food web; and (iii) declines in primary productivity following the invasion by zebra mussels.Less
This chapter focuses on major changes in the food web dynamics of Lakes Superior and Michigan that arose due to fisheries management programs and nonnative species invasions. It emphasizes both native and nonnative species representing three trophic levels: (i) top predators in the food web (sea lamprey, stocked Pacific salmon, the native lake trout, and their prey); (ii) expansion of invading zooplankton-feeding fishes (alewife and rainbow smelt) at the middle of the food web; and (iii) declines in primary productivity following the invasion by zebra mussels.
