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While it is well documented that wolves (Canis lupus) hunt and scavenge bison (Bison bison) from some long-established populations, such ecological interactions are not well known for most small, reintroduced populations in the boreal forest. Indeed, predation or scavenging of reintroduced bison in the boreal forest is rarely reported. Yet, documenting instances of bison killed or consumed is imperative to understanding the integration of reintroduced populations into local food webs and ecosystems. Such observations also indicate that reintroduced bison may be under selective pressure from their key predator. We compiled 20 verifiable observations of wolves hunting or scavenging bison from three reintroduced populations in northwestern Canada. We report the first confirmed observations of wolves feeding on bison from the 'Nahanni' and 'Pink Mountain' populations. We also report new records of wolves hunting or scavenging bison from the 'Aishihik' population. Where sex was known, most (14 of 17) bison consumed were females and 17 of 20 were adults (either sex). Contrary to other studies, we found that 7 of 20 bison consumed by wolves were aged individuals. It took 19–50 years since bison were reintroduction before verifiable observations of wolf–bison interactions emerged for these populations, indicating that wolves were likely slow to view reintroduced bison as prey and incorporate them into their diets. These observations are of value mainly because they provide unequivocal evidence that these reintroduced bison populations are becoming integrated into local food webs and beginning to be under selective pressure by their main predator, both of which are hallmarks of ecological restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge about how ecological networks vary across global scales is currently limited given the complexity of acquiring repeated spatial data for species interactions. Yet, recent developments in metawebs highlight efficient ways to first document possible interactions within regional species pools. Downscaling metawebs towards local network predictions is a promising approach to using the current data to investigate the variation of networks across space. However, issues remain in how to represent the spatial variability and uncertainty of species interactions, especially for large-scale food webs. Here, we present a probabilistic framework to downscale a metaweb based on the Canadian mammal metaweb and species occurrences from global databases. We investigated how our approach can be used to represent the variability of networks and communities between ecoregions in Canada. Species richness and interactions followed a similar latitudinal gradient across ecoregions but simultaneously identified contrasting diversity hotspots. Network motifs revealed additional areas of variation in network structure compared with species richness and number of links. Our method offers the potential to bring global predictions down to a more actionable local scale, and increases the diversity of ecological networks that can be projected in space. This article is part of the theme issue 'Connected interactions: enriching food web research by spatial and social interactions'.

Vast stores of millennial‐aged soil carbon (MSC) in permafrost peatlands risk leaching into the contemporary carbon cycle after thaw caused by climate warming or increased wildfire activity. Here we tracked the export and downstream fate of MSC from two peatland‐dominated catchments in subarctic Canada, one of which was recently affected by wildfire. We tested whether thermokarst bog expansion and deepening of seasonally thawed soils due to wildfire increased the contributions of MSC to downstream waters. Despite being available for lateral transport, MSC accounted for ≤6% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) pools at catchment outlets. Assimilation of MSC into the aquatic food web could not explain its absence at the outlets. Using δ13C‐Δ14C‐δ15N‐δ2H measurements, we estimated only 7% of consumer biomass came from MSC by direct assimilation and algal recycling of heterotrophic respiration. Recent wildfire that caused seasonally thawed soils to reach twice as deep in one catchment did not change these results. In contrast to many other Arctic ecosystems undergoing climate warming, we suggest waterlogged peatlands will protect against downstream delivery and transformation of MSC after climate‐ and wildfire‐induced permafrost thaw. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the amino acid composition of fishes and some marine invertebrates varies among taxa and systems, similar information is lacking for freshwater invertebrates. The objectives were to characterise and compare the amino acid composition among different aquatic species, dietary habits, and environmental conditions.Benthic macroinvertebrates from different functional feeding groups (FFG), bulk zooplankton, biofilm, and fishes representing 12 families (21 genera or species) were collected from temperate lakes in eastern Canada during the summers of 2013 and 2014. Fifteen protein‐bound amino acids, including thiols, were measured in whole invertebrates, biofilm, or fish muscle. We hypothesised that the amino acid composition will differ among species and systems.Multiple discriminant analyses revealed significant differences in the amino acid composition among species—based on varying percentages of cysteine (as cysteic acid) and histidine—and among FFG/trophic designations—based on histidine and lysine—where the primary consumers were more variable than the predators.Overall, the results suggest that patterns were based on phylogenetics, biological characteristics, and the FFG/trophic designations of biota.The within‐taxon variability in composition was also related to differences among lakes. Characteristics of their environment, including lake pH and the food web structure (abundance and composition of taxa), probably influenced their dietary habits and amino acid composition of diet.These results expand the currently limited knowledge of the biochemical composition of freshwater biota and provide impetus for further studies on nutritional values in predator‐prey relationships, trophic guilds, and the biomagnification of protein‐bound contaminants through food webs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Inverse methodology was used to construct a mass-balance model of the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary (LSLE) for the 2008–2010 time period. Our first objective was to make an overall description of community structure, trophic interactions, and the effects of fishing and predation on the vertebrate and invertebrate communities of the ecosystem. A second objective was to identify other important predators of krill, and to assess if these compete with blue whales, listed as endangered under the Canadian Species at Risk Act in 2005 (northwest Atlantic population). The Estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence are summer feeding grounds for blue whales and other marine mammals. Blue whales eat only euphausiids (krill) and require dense concentrations of prey to meet their energy requirements, which makes them particularly vulnerable to changes in prey availability. In the LSLE, many species from secondary producers (hyperiid amphipods, other macrozooplankton) to top predators (fish, birds, and marine mammals) consumed euphausiids. Consequently, krill predators were found at all consumer trophic levels. However, our results showed that only about 35% of the estimated euphausiid production was consumed by all predator species combined. Euphausiid did not seem to be a restricted resource in the LSLE ecosystem, at least during the study period. The blue whale did not appear to have to compete for krill in the LSLE. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Mass-balance models, using inverse methodology, were applied to the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence for the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s to describe ecosystem structure, trophic group interactions, and the effects of fishing and predation on the ecosystem for periods preceding and following the collapse of groundfish stocks in this area. These models were used to determine how the ecosystem changed, and whether its structure and functioning were affected by the observed changes in key species between the two time periods. Our analyses indicate that the ecosystem structure shifted dramatically from one previously dominated by piscivorous groundfish and small-bodied forage species (e.g., capelin, herring, and shrimp) in similar proportions to one now dominated by small-bodied forage species. Overfishing removed a functional group, large-bodied demersal predators that has not been replaced 12 years after the cessation of heavy fishing, and left marine mammals such as seals and cetacea as top predators of many species (especially fishes) during the mid-1990s. Predation by marine mammals on fish increased from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s while predation by large fish on fish decreased. A change in the prey of seals from juvenile cod to capelin occurred between the models for the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s consistent with observed shifts in the abundance of the two prey species between the two time periods. These major changes were accompanied by a decrease in total catches and a transition in landings from long-lived and piscivorous groundfish toward planktivorous pelagic fish and invertebrates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In contrast to the North Atlantic, there are few studies of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi in the Northeast Subarctic Pacific. Yet, recent observations in this area suggest that during spring E. huxleyi is more important than previously thought. To survey potential bottom-up controls of E. huxleyi, seawater samples were collected from the surface layer in the Northeast (NE) Pacific, mainly during June 2001. Average surface mixed layer irradiance, temperature, salinity, nutrient concentrations (nitrate, phosphate, silicate), and abundances of E. huxleyi were determined. Data were partitioned among high nutrient-low chlorophyll (HNLC) waters and mesoscale eddies that carry waters enriched with macronutrients and iron. No significant differences existed between HNLC waters and mesoscale eddies, with respect to relationships among E. huxleyi abundance and physical and chemical parameters. All chemical and physical parameters, except underwater irradiance, were significantly inter-correlated. E. huxleyi represented up to 67%, but generally <10%, of autotrophic carbon. Abundances were highest at lower temperatures and higher nutrient concentrations, underwater irradiance, and salinity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Evaluating the effects of multiple stressors on ecosystems is becoming increasingly vital with global changes. The role of species interactions in propagating the effects of stressors, although widely acknowledged, has yet to be formally explored. Here, we conceptualise how stressors propagate through food webs and explore how they affect simulated three-species motifs and food webs of the Canadian St. Lawrence System. We find that overlooking species interactions invariably underestimate the effects of stressors, and that synergistic and antagonistic effects through food webs are prevalent. We also find that interaction type influences a species' susceptibility to stressors; species in omnivory and tri-trophic food chain interactions in particular are sensitive and prone to synergistic and antagonistic effects. Finally, we find that apex predators were negatively affected and mesopredators benefited from the effects of stressors due to their trophic position in the St. Lawrence System, but that species sensitivity is dependent on food web structure. In conceptualising the effects of multiple stressors on food webs, we bring theory closer to practice and show that considering the intricacies of ecological communities is key to assess the net effects of stressors on species., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Changes in primary productivity have the potential to substantially alter food webs, with positive outcomes for some species and negative outcomes for others. Understanding the environmental context and species traits that give rise to these divergent outcomes is a major challenge to the generality of both theoretical and applied ecology. In aquatic systems, nutrient-mediated eutrophication has led to major declines in species diversity, motivating us to seek terrestrial analogues using a large-mammal system across 598 000 km 2 of the Canadian boreal forest. These forests are undergoing some of the most rapid rates of land-use change on Earth and are home to declining caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou ) populations. Using satellite-derived estimates of primary productivity, coupled with estimates of moose ( Alces alces ) and wolf ( Canis lupus ) abundance, we used path analyses to discriminate among hypotheses explaining how habitat alteration can affect caribou population growth. Hypotheses included food limitation, resource dominance by moose over caribou, and apparent competition with predators shared between moose and caribou. Results support apparent competition and yield estimates of wolf densities (1.8 individuals 1000 km -2 ) above which caribou populations decline. Our multi-trophic analysis provides insight into the cascading effects of habitat alteration from forest cutting that destabilize terrestrial predator-prey dynamics. Finally, the path analysis highlights why conservation actions directed at the proximate cause of caribou decline have been more successful in the near term than those directed further along the trophic chain.

Habitat coupling is a concept that refers to consumer integration of resources derived from different habitats. This coupling unites fundamental food web pathways (e.g., cross-habitat trophic linkages) that mediate key ecological processes such as biomass flows, nutrient cycling, and stability. We consider the influence of water transparency, an important environmental driver in aquatic ecosystems, on habitat coupling by a light-sensitive predator, walleye (Sander vitreus), and its prey in 33 Canadian lakes. Our large-scale, across-lake study shows that the contribution of nearshore carbon (δ 13 C) relative to offshore carbon (δ 13 C) to walleye is higher in less transparent lakes. To a lesser degree, the contribution of nearshore carbon increased with a greater proportion of prey in nearshore compared to offshore habitats. Interestingly, water transparency and habitat coupling predict among-lake variation in walleye relative biomass. These findings support the idea that predator responses to changing conditions (e.g., water transparency) can fundamentally alter carbon pathways, and predator biomass, in aquatic ecosystems. Identifying environmental factors that influence habitat coupling is an important step toward understanding spatial food web structure in a changing world.

This review summarizes data and information which have been generated on mercury (Hg) in the marine environment of the Canadian Arctic since the previous Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment Report (CACAR) was released in 2003. Much new information has been collected on Hg concentrations in marine water, snow and ice in the Canadian Arctic. The first measurements of methylation rates in Arctic seawater indicate that the water column is an important site for Hg methylation. Arctic marine waters were also found to be a substantial source of gaseous Hg to the atmosphere during the ice-free season. High Hg concentrations have been found in marine snow as a result of deposition following atmospheric mercury depletion events, although much of this Hg is photoreduced and re-emitted back to the atmosphere. The most extensive sampling of marine sediments in the Canadian Arctic was carried out in Hudson Bay where sediment total Hg (THg) concentrations were low compared with other marine regions in the circumpolar Arctic. Mass balance models have been developed to provide quantitative estimates of THg fluxes into and out of the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay. Several recent studies on Hg biomagnification have improved our understanding of trophic transfer of Hg through marine food webs. Over the past several decades, Hg concentrations have increased in some marine biota, while other populations showed no temporal change. Marine biota also exhibited considerable geographic variation in Hg concentrations with ringed seals, beluga and polar bears from the Beaufort Sea region having higher Hg concentrations compared with other parts of the Canadian Arctic. The drivers of these variable patterns of Hg bioaccumulation, both regionally and temporally, within the Canadian Arctic remain unclear. Further research is needed to identify the underlying processes including the interplay between biogeochemical and food web processes and climate change., (Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)