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Meddeb, M., Niquil, N., Grami, B., Mejri, K., Haraldsson, M., Chaalali, A., et al. (2019). A new type of plankton food web functioning in coastal waters revealed by coupling Monte Carlo Markov chain linear inverse method and ecological network analysis. Ecol. Indic., 104, 67–85.
Résumé: Plankton food webs (PFW) typology is based on different categories of functioning, according to the dominant processes and the role played by heterotrophic bacteria, small vs large phytoplankton, and small vs large zooplankton. Investigating the structure and the function of planktonic food webs in two SW Mediterranean waters (inshore and marine sites) at four seasons, using inverse (LIM-MCMC) and ecological network (ENA) analyses, we identified a new type of food web, called the “bacterial multivorous food web”. This food web adds to the conventional trophic continuum as previously reported. The “bacterial multivorous food web” present in winter showed the lowest primary production among seasons, but highest bacterial production. Several food web ratios characterized this new typology e.g. picophytoplankton net primary production to total primary production varied from 0.20 to 0.28; bacterial to primary production ratio is higher than values reported in global scale (congruent to 1); bacterial net production to the potential protozoan prey net production was high (>0.2). In this special food web, carbon was mostly recycled, with a moderate fraction channeled to deep waters, which lead to a higher retention of carbon inside the ecosystem. This winter PFW also seemed to be the most organized, specialized, stable and mature, as related to common interpretations of ENA. The spring was characterized by herbivorous food web, with highest activity coinciding with low stability. Although less usual, the herbivorous pathway was also observed during summer, in inshore waters. The autumn food webs, which functioned as multivorous or microbial food webs, appeared to be stable and mature. Finally, our study demonstrates the usefulness of food web models derived ratios combined with ecological network analysis indices to conduct evaluation of the structure and functioning of ecosystems and potentially to support management decisions in marine environment.
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Schilds, A., Mourier, J., Huveneers, C., Nazimi, L., Fox, A., & Leu, S. T. (2019). Evidence for non-random co-occurrences in a white shark aggregation. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 73(10), Unsp-138.
Résumé: Groups or aggregations of animals can result from individuals being attracted to a common resource or because of synchronised patterns of daily or seasonal activity. Although mostly solitary throughout its distribution, white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) seasonally aggregate at a number of sites worldwide to feed on calorie-rich pinnipeds. At the Neptune Islands, South Australia, large numbers of white sharks can be sighted throughout the year, including during periods of low seal abundance. We use a combination of photo-identification and network analysis based on co-occurrence of individuals visiting the site on the same day to elucidate the population structure and aggregatory behaviour of Australia's largest aggregation of sub-adult and adult white sharks. We photo-identified 282 sharks (183 males, 97 females, 2 unknown) over a 4.5-year period (June 2010-November 2014) and found that white sharks did not randomly co-occur with their conspecifics, but formed four distinct communities. Tendency to co-occur varied across months with males co-occurring with more individuals than females. Sex-dependent patterns of visitation at the Neptune Islands and resulting intraspecific competition likely drive the observed community structure and temporal variability in co-occurrences. This study provides new insights into the aggregatory behaviour of white sharks at a seal colony and shows for the first time that white shark co-occurrence can be non-random.
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