Energy Flow Through Marine Ecosystems: Confronting Transfer Efficiency.
Trends Ecol Evol
; 36(1): 76-86, 2021 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33097289
Transfer efficiency is the proportion of energy passed between nodes in food webs. It is an emergent, unitless property that is difficult to measure, and responds dynamically to environmental and ecosystem changes. Because the consequences of changes in transfer efficiency compound through ecosystems, slight variations can have large effects on food availability for top predators. Here, we review the processes controlling transfer efficiency, approaches to estimate it, and known variations across ocean biomes. Both process-level analysis and observed macroscale variations suggest that ecosystem-scale transfer efficiency is highly variable, impacted by fishing, and will decline with climate change. It is important that we more fully resolve the processes controlling transfer efficiency in models to effectively anticipate changes in marine ecosystems and fisheries resources.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Ecosistema
/
Cadena Alimentaria
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Trends Ecol Evol
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article