Consumer-resource body-size relationships in natural food webs
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Brose, Ulrich
Department of Biology, Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany - Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab, Berkeley, USA -
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Jonsson, Tomas
Systems Biology Group, School of Life Sciences, University of Skövde, Sweden
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Berlow, Eric L.
Department of Biology, Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany - Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab, Berkeley, USA - University of California, Merced, Sierra Nevada Research Institute, Yosemite National Park, USA
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Warren, Philip
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK
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Banasek-Richter, Carolin
Department of Biology, Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany
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Bersier, Louis-Félix
Department of Biology, Unit of Ecology and Evolution, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
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Blanchard, Julia L.
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Suffolk, UK
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Brey, Thomas
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
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Carpenter, Stephen R.
Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
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Blandenier, Marie-France Cattin
Zoological Institute, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Cushing, Lara
Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab, Berkeley, USA
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Dawah, Hassan Ali
King Khalid University, College of Science, Department of Biology, Abha, Saudi Arabia
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Dell, Tony
Department of Zoology and Tropical Ecology, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
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Edwards, Francois
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
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Harper-Smith, Sarah
Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, USA
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Jacob, Ute
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
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Ledger, Mark E.
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
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Martinez, Neo D.
Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab, Berkeley, USA
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Memmott, Jane
School of Biological Sciences, Woodland Road, Bristol, UK
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Mintenbeck, Katja
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
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Pinnegar, John K.
The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Suffolk, UK
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Rall, Björn C.
Department of Biology, Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany
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Rayner, Thomas S.
Department of Zoology and Tropical Ecology, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
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Reuman, Daniel C.
Laboratory of Populations, Rockefeller and Columbia Universities, New York, USA
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Ruess, Liliane
Institute of Soil Science, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
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Ulrich, Werner
Department of Animal Ecology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland
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Williams, Richard J.
Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab, Berkeley, USA -
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Woodward, Guy
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, UK
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Cohen, Joel E.
Laboratory of Populations, Rockefeller and Columbia Universities, New York, USA
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Published in:
- Ecology. - 2006, vol. 87, no. 10, p. 2411-2417
English
It has been suggested that differences in body size between consumer and resource species may have important implications for interaction strengths, population dynamics, and eventually food web structure, function, and evolution. Still, the general distribution of consumer–resource body-size ratios in real ecosystems, and whether they vary systematically among habitats or broad taxonomic groups, is poorly understood. Using a unique global database on consumer and resource body sizes, we show that the mean body-size ratios of aquatic herbivorous and detritivorous consumers are several orders of magnitude larger than those of carnivorous predators. Carnivorous predator–prey body-size ratios vary across different habitats and predator and prey types (invertebrates, ectotherm, and endotherm vertebrates). Predator–prey body-size ratios are on average significantly higher (1) in freshwater habitats than in marine or terrestrial habitats, (2) for vertebrate than for invertebrate predators, and (3) for invertebrate than for ectotherm vertebrate prey. If recent studies that relate body-size ratios to interaction strengths are general, our results suggest that mean consumer–resource interaction strengths may vary systematically across different habitat categories and consumer types.
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Faculty
- Faculté des sciences et de médecine
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Department
- Département de Biologie
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Language
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Classification
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Biological sciences
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License
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License undefined
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Identifiers
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Persistent URL
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https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/301398
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