The aim of this study was to assess the eutrophication and trophic status of the Caspian Sea based on different indices and also compare its status with the reference threshold values in the Iranian coastal waters of Caspian Sea (hereafter ICWCS). The water samples (three replicates) were collected along four transects (off the coast from Anzali, Tonekabon, Nowshahr and Amirabad) between spring...

BACKGROUND Insect predators and parasitoids exploit attractive chemical signals from lower trophic levels as kairomones to locate their herbivore prey and hosts. We hypothesized that specific chemical cues from prey non-hosts and non-habitats, which are not part of the trophic chain, are also recognized by predators and would inhibit attraction to the host/prey kairomone signals. To test our hy...

Climate change has had profound effects upon marine ecosystems, impacting across all trophic levels from plankton to apex predators. Determining the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems requires understanding the direct effects on all trophic levels as well as indirect effects mediated by trophic coupling. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of climate change on the p...

Fish assemblages in tropical river food webs are characterized by high taxonomic diversity, diverse foraging modes, omnivory, and an abundance of detritivores. Feeding links are complex and modified by hydrologic seasonality and system productivity. These properties make it difficult to generalize about feeding relationships and to identify dominant linkages of energy flow. We analyzed the stab...

An updated trophic model of the southern Benguela ecosystem in the period 2004−2008 was constructed, complementing trophic models for earlier periods. The model represents the trophic structure of the system after a southward shift of major resources. There was an increase in biomass of small pelagic fish and cephalopods between the 1980s and 2004–2008 periods, accompanied by declines in severa...