TY - JOUR
T1 - Seasonal dynamics and functioning of the Sylt-Rømø Bight, northern Wadden Sea
AU - de la Vega, Camille
AU - Horn, Sabine
AU - Baird, Dan
AU - Hines, David
AU - Borrett, Stuart
AU - Jensen, Lasse Fast
AU - Schwemmer, Philipp
AU - Asmus, Ragnhild
AU - Siebert, Ursula
AU - Asmus, Harald
PY - 2018/4/5
Y1 - 2018/4/5
N2 - The Wadden Sea undergoes large seasonal changes in species abundance and biomass comprising its complex food web. This study examined four carbon food web models of the Sylt-Rømø Bight, one for each season. Each flow model consisted of 66 compartments depicting the respective biomass and energy budget of each ecosystem component and the flows between them. Ecological network analysis (ENA), a set of algorithms to evaluate the functioning of ecological networks, was used to assess the seasonal variability in the system properties of the Sylt-Rømø Bight food webs. We used an uncertainty analysis to quantitatively evaluate the significance of inter-seasonal differences. Clear seasonal variation was observed in most of the whole system indicators such as the flow diversity, the effective link density and the relative redundancy which varied by 12.8%, 17.3% and 10.3% respectively between the highest in summer and the lowest during fall and winter, whereas the relevant ascendency ratio was the highest in winter during the least active months. Other indices such as the average mutual information index, which fluctuated between 1.73 in fall and 1.79 in spring, showed no significant variation between seasons. Results from ENA have great potential for ecosystem management, as it provides a holistic assessment of the functioning of ecosystems.
AB - The Wadden Sea undergoes large seasonal changes in species abundance and biomass comprising its complex food web. This study examined four carbon food web models of the Sylt-Rømø Bight, one for each season. Each flow model consisted of 66 compartments depicting the respective biomass and energy budget of each ecosystem component and the flows between them. Ecological network analysis (ENA), a set of algorithms to evaluate the functioning of ecological networks, was used to assess the seasonal variability in the system properties of the Sylt-Rømø Bight food webs. We used an uncertainty analysis to quantitatively evaluate the significance of inter-seasonal differences. Clear seasonal variation was observed in most of the whole system indicators such as the flow diversity, the effective link density and the relative redundancy which varied by 12.8%, 17.3% and 10.3% respectively between the highest in summer and the lowest during fall and winter, whereas the relevant ascendency ratio was the highest in winter during the least active months. Other indices such as the average mutual information index, which fluctuated between 1.73 in fall and 1.79 in spring, showed no significant variation between seasons. Results from ENA have great potential for ecosystem management, as it provides a holistic assessment of the functioning of ecosystems.
KW - Ecological network analysis
KW - Ecosystem functioning
KW - Food web model
KW - Seasonal variation
KW - Uncertainty analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85044346135&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecss.2018.01.021
DO - 10.1016/j.ecss.2018.01.021
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85044346135
SN - 0272-7714
VL - 203
SP - 100
EP - 118
JO - Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
JF - Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
ER -