When is a type III functional response stabilizing? Theory and practice of predicting plankton dynamics under enrichment.

The curvature of generalized Holling type functional response curves is controlled by a shape parameter b yielding hyperbolic type II (b = 1) to increasingly sigmoid type III (b > 1) responses. Empirical estimates of b vary considerably across taxa. Larger consumer-resource body mass ratios have been suggested to generate more pronounced type III responses and therefore to promote dynamic stability.

Global warming benefits the small in aquatic ecosystems.

Understanding the ecological impacts of climate change is a crucial challenge of the twenty-first century. There is a clear lack of general rules regarding the impacts of global warming on biota. Here, we present a metaanalysis of the effect of climate change on body size of ectothermic aquatic organisms (bacteria, phyto- and zooplankton, and fish) from the community to the individual level.

An indoor mesocosm system to study the effect of climate change on the late winter and spring succession of Baltic Sea phyto- and zooplankton.

An indoor mesocosm system was set up to study the response of phytoplankton and zooplankton spring succession to winter and spring warming of sea surface temperatures. The experimental temperature regimes consisted of the decadal average of the Kiel Bight, Baltic Sea, and three elevated regimes with 2 degrees C, 4 degrees C, and 6 degrees C temperature difference from that at baseline. While the peak of the phytoplankton spring bloom was accelerated only weakly by increasing temperatures (1.