Preview

PDF 120484 final.pdf | Download (882kB) | Preview

Abstract

The abundance and the distribution of trophic resources available for consumers influence the productivity and the diversity of natural communities. Nevertheless, assessment of the actual abundance of food items available for individual trophic groups has been constrained by differences in methods and metrics used by various authors. Here we develop an index of food abundance, the framework of which can be adapted for different ecosystems. The relative available food index (RAFI) is computed by considering standard resource conditions of a habitat and the influence of various generalized anthropogenic and natural factors. RAFI was developed using published literature on food abundance and validated by comparison of predictions versus observed trophic resources across various marine sites. RAFI tables here proposed can be applied to a range of marine ecosystems for predictions of the potential abundance of food available for each trophic group, hence permitting exploration of ecological theories by focusing on the deviation from the observed to the expected.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Zupo, V and Alexander, TJ and Edgar, GJ
Keywords:	biodiversity, production, diet, marine habitat, food webs, trophic groups, feeding guilds, abundance, resources
Journal or Publication Title:	Royal Society Open Science
Publisher:	The Royal Society Publishing
ISSN:	2054-5703
DOI / ID Number:	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160515
Copyright Information:	Copyright 2017 The Authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Related URLs:	Google Scholar: Edgar, GJ UTAS Profile: Edgar, GJ
Item Statistics:	View statistics for this item

Actions (login required)

Item Control Page