Ecological Networks in Fisheries: Predicting the Future?

76 The theme for the 142nd annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) was “Fisheries Networks: Building Ecological, Social, and Professional Relationships,” and that provided me a hook to reflect on how studies of ecological networks have developed and how they can be used to inform fisheries research. Ecological networks, as we know them, date back to the pioneering studies of Raymond Lindeman around 1940 (Illustration 1). He studied Cedar Creek Bog in Minnesota and made a detailed model of nutrient cycling expressed as energy flows (Lindeman 1942). For this, he used thermodynamic principles to evaluate and understand ecosystem functioning, and through this he established the field of trophic dynamics. The study of energy flows and concepts he introduced, such as food chains, food webs, ecological transfer efficiency, and energy pyramids, now provide core elements of community and ecosystem ecology.