Retrospective qualitative analysis of ecological networks under environmental perturbation: a copper-polluted intertidal community as a case study.

The coast of Chañaral Bay in northern Chile has been affected by copper mine wastes for decades. This sustained perturbation has disrupted the intertidal community in several ways, but the mechanisms behind the observed shifts in local biodiversity remain poorly understood. Our main goal was to identify the species (lumped into trophic groups) belonging to the Chañaral intertidal community that, being directly affected by copper pollution, contributed primarily to the generation of the observed changes in community structure.

Consequences of adaptive behaviour for the structure and dynamics of food webs.

Species coexistence within ecosystems and the stability of patterns of temporal changes in population sizes are central topics in ecological theory. In the last decade, adaptive behaviour has been proposed as a mechanism of population stabilization. In particular, widely distributed adaptive trophic behaviour (ATB), the fitness-enhancing changes in individuals' feeding-related traits due to variation in their trophic environment, may play a key role in modulating the dynamics of feeding relationships within natural communities.