Core reorganisation in food webs buffers ecosystems against warming

Core reorganisation in food webs buffers ecosystems against warming | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Core reorganisation in food webs buffers ecosystems against warming Pablo Augusto Antiqueira, Athen Ma, Pavel Kratina, Vito Latora, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7893968/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Food webs are central to ecosystem functioning and stability, yet how they respond to climate warming at the substructural level remains unclear. We used a natural temperature gradient (5–25°C) spanning 14 whole-stream ecosystems in Iceland to test how warming alters food web substructure organization (core–periphery) and its consequences for ecosystem functioning (energy flux) and stability (robustness). We found that warming does not alter the number or proportion of core and peripheral species but drives profound internal reorganization through turnover in core species identity and abundance. While warming consistently decreased robustness to secondary extinctions through reduced food web connectance, core reorganisation enhanced both energy flux and robustness to species loss. Dynamic modelling revealed that ecosystems were disproportionately more sensitive to the loss of core taxa, highlighting the importance of maintaining core size for ecosystem stability. These findings challenge the traditional view of food webs as fixed hierarchies, highlighting instead their adaptive internal architecture under environmental change. By uncovering a stabilizing mechanism rooted in core reorganisation, our work provides a new perspective on how ecosystems may buffer climate impacts. Biological sciences/Ecology/Ecological networks Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Climate-change ecology Biological sciences/Ecology/Ecosystem ecology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files AntiqueiraetalSupplementalMaterial.docx Supplemental Material Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7893968","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":552324466,"identity":"2e64b513-f3de-4629-be14-d3aceb9daf95","order_by":0,"name":"Pablo Augusto Antiqueira","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHsYDIIoNRCQwMMiB6AMP8GthAGmRgGkxBmtJIEYLjJvYANWLE5iznz1w4EPNnTo+9hzDBw/32KXPDzv8EGiLnZxuA3Ytlj15CQdnHHsmwcbzxtgg4Vly7sbbaQZALcnGZgewazE4kGNwmIftsASbRI6ZRMIB5tyNsxNAWg4kbsOl5fwboJZ/YC3mPxIO1Kcbzk7/gF/LDaAtvG0QWxgSDhxOkJfOwW+L5Yx3CQdn9h2WbON5Vgx02HHDDdI5BQcSDHD7xZw/9+CDD98O88u3J2/8+ONAtbz87PTNHz5U2Mnh9D6CmQALEDRxwlrkG3CrHgWjYBSMgpEJAIo4Z2+59wVKAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1118-8796","institution":"University of Essex","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pablo","middleName":"Augusto","lastName":"Antiqueira","suffix":""},{"id":552324467,"identity":"9dd69a1d-c327-4e3c-a843-fe1c71017353","order_by":1,"name":"Athen Ma","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9858-4889","institution":"Queen Mary University of London","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Athen","middleName":"","lastName":"Ma","suffix":""},{"id":552324468,"identity":"d77aa6e5-5819-4b78-b998-d896f3cba5d1","order_by":2,"name":"Pavel Kratina","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9144-7937","institution":"Queen Mary University of London","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pavel","middleName":"","lastName":"Kratina","suffix":""},{"id":552324469,"identity":"2a5e3ac4-c5ec-490d-a60b-75d4cd6a2b0a","order_by":3,"name":"Vito Latora","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Queen Mary, University of London","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vito","middleName":"","lastName":"Latora","suffix":""},{"id":552324470,"identity":"a03f8d89-6ca6-462c-af24-766182800a65","order_by":4,"name":"Lachlan G. 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We used a natural temperature gradient (5\u0026ndash;25\u0026deg;C) spanning 14 whole-stream ecosystems in Iceland to test how warming alters food web substructure organization (core\u0026ndash;periphery) and its consequences for ecosystem functioning (energy flux) and stability (robustness). We found that warming does not alter the number or proportion of core and peripheral species but drives profound internal reorganization through turnover in core species identity and abundance. While warming consistently decreased robustness to secondary extinctions through reduced food web connectance, core reorganisation enhanced both energy flux and robustness to species loss. Dynamic modelling revealed that ecosystems were disproportionately more sensitive to the loss of core taxa, highlighting the importance of maintaining core size for ecosystem stability. 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