RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Adaptive foraging behaviour increases vulnerability to climate change
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.05.05.442768
DO 10.1101/2021.05.05.442768
A1 Gauzens, Benoit
A1 Rosenbaum, Benjamin
A1 Kalinkat, Gregor
A1 Boy, Thomas
A1 Jochum, Malte
A1 Kortsch, Susanne
A1 O’Gorman, Eoin J.
A1 Brose, Ulrich
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/07/07/2021.05.05.442768.abstract
AB Adaptative foraging behaviour should promote species coexistence and biodiversity under climate change as consumers are expected to maximise their energy intake, according to principles of optimal foraging theory. We test these assumptions using a unique dataset comprising (1) 22,185 stomach contents of fish species across functional groups and feeding strategies and (2) prey availability in the environment over 12 years. We explore how foraging behavior responds to variance in ecosystem productivity and temperature. Our results show that foraging shifts from trait-dependent prey selectivity to simple density dependence in warmer and more productive environments. Contrary to classical assumptions, we show that this behavioural change leads to lower consumption efficiency as species shift away from their optimal trophic niche. Dynamic food-web modeling demonstrates that this behavioral response to warming could undermine species persistence and biodiversity. By integrating empirical adaptive foraging behavior into dynamic models, our study reveals higher risk profiles for ecosystems under global warming.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.