Experiments in spatial food webs: caveats and future directions

Background/Question/Methods

Spatial food web theory addresses how a wide array of processes might affect an equally wide array of patterns in ecology.  Some of the predictions of spatial food web theory have been found to explain important natural ecological patterns such as trophic structure and trait distributions along gradients but it has been more challenging to determine the causal relations that produce these patterns.  An increasing array of experiments ranging from microcosms to field enclosures and perturbations are shedding light on these effects.  Here I review from a strategic point of view what these experiments tell us about spatial dynamics.

Results/Conclusions This review identifies several important gaps in our knowledge including the effects of heterogeneous dispersal, the interaction of adaptation and community assembly, and the consequences to ‘emergent’ community, food web, and ecosystem attributes.  It also identifies surprisingly strong effects of environment relative to space in regulating food web structure.