Figure 1: Illustration showing the effect of the duration of terrestrial invertebrate supply on stream ecosystems (IMAGE)

Kobe University

Figure 1: Illustration showing the effect of the duration of terrestrial invertebrate supply on stream ecosystems

Caption

When there is a pulsed (intensive) supply of terrestrial invertebrates, competition between the salmon is reduced, resulting in hardly any size variation between individual fish. In the pulsed groups, the majority of salmon ate terrestrial invertebrates, reducing the predation pressure on benthic invertebrates. This had a domino effect on the numbers of benthic invertebrates and the breakdown rate of leaf detritus. Solid arrows show predator/prey relationships and the dotted arrows indicate the strength of intraspecific competition. The thickness of the arrow corresponds to the scale of the effect.

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Takuya Sato

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