Abstract
In this paper, we argue that understanding marine ecosystem functioning requires a thorough appreciation of the role of intraguild predation to system dynamics. The theoretical predictions of intraguild predation models might explain some of the community features observed in marine ecosystems such as low diversity in upwelling and productive systems and species alternation in response to moderate external forcing. Finally, we argue that an ecosystem approach to fisheries requires that the size-structure of fish populations should be taken into account and that it is extremely important to account for the predators of early stages (eggs and larvae) to gain a thorough understanding of the key interactions between species.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1683-1690 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | MARINE BIOLOGY |
| Volume | 158 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgments This work was supported by the project ECO-ANCHOA promoted by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Basque Country Government (FEP funding) and the 7th framework project FACTS (FP7-KBBE-2009-3, grant agreement 244966). Thanks are due to Myron Peck for useful comments on the manuscript and Paul de Bruyn for his help with the English language. This is contribution no 539 from AZTI.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Aquatic Science
- Ecology
