Ecosystem synchrony: an emerging property to elucidate ecosystem responses to global change.

Understanding ecosystem responses to global change have long challenged scientists due to notoriously complex properties arising from the interplay between biological and environmental factors. We propose the concept of ecosystem synchrony - that is, similarity in the temporal fluctuations of an ecosystem function between multiple ecosystems - to overcome this challenge. Ecosystem synchrony can manifest due to spatially correlated environmental fluctuations (Moran effect), exchange of energy, nutrients, and organic matter and similarity in biotic characteristics across ecosystems.

Watershed features shape spatial patterns of fish tissue mercury in a boreal river network.

Freshwater mercury (Hg) contamination is a widespread environmental concern but how proximate sources and downstream transport shape Hg spatial patterns in riverine food webs is poorly understood. We measured total Hg (THg) in slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) across the Kuskokwim River, a large boreal river in western Alaska and home to subsistence fishing communities which rely on fish for primary nutrition. We used spatial stream network models (SSNMs) to quantify watershed and instream conditions influencing sculpin THg.

Global investigation of lake habitat coupling by fishes.

Habitat coupling, where consumers acquire resources from different habitats, plays an important role in ecosystem functioning. In this study, we provide a global investigation of lake habitat coupling by freshwater fishes between littoral (nearshore) and pelagic (open water) zones and elucidate the extent to which magnitude of coupling varies according to environmental context and consumer traits. We consider the influence of lake factors (surface area, depth, shoreline complexity, and annual temperature), relative trophic position of consumers, fish community species richness, and fish morphological traits on habitat coupling by fishes.

Delayed trophic response of a marine predator to ocean condition and prey availability during the past century.

Understanding the response of predators to ecological change at multiple temporal scales can elucidate critical predator-prey dynamics that would otherwise go unrecognized. We performed compound-specific nitrogen stable isotope analysis of amino acids on 153 harbor seal museum skull specimens to determine how trophic position of this marine predator has responded to ecosystem change over the past century. The relationships between harbor seal trophic position, ocean condition, and prey abundance, were analyzed using hierarchical modeling of a multi-amino-acid framework and applying 1, 2, and 3 years temporal lags.

Optimizing Amazonian dams for nature.

Algorithms assess opportunities, forgone benefits, and environmental trade-offs.