The response of trophic interaction networks to multiple stressors in a marine latitudinal gradient of the Southern Hemisphere

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 2 of this Preprint. You must log in to post a comment. There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article. This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. This is version 2 of this Preprint. Add a Comment You must log in to post a comment. Comments There are no comments or no comments have been made public for this article. Ecological networks offer valuable insights into community structure, key species identification, and ecosystem management. Understanding how these networks respond to global change stressors is of increasing interest, especially along geographical gradients. This review summarizes potential stressor responses in marine food webs from the Southwest Atlantic to the Antarctic (45 - 78°S), encompassing areas such as San Jorge Gulf, Beagle Channel, Burdwood Bank, Scotia Sea, Potter Cove, and the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. The objectives are: 1) to describe the structure of marine food webs along this latitudinal axis using a network approach; 2) to identify predominant global change-related stressors affecting each ecosystem; and 3) to summarize observed food web changes and hypothesize on stressor impacts. The effects of stressors were primarily reviewed at the species level. Alternative hypotheses for each study area were formulated considering: a) main stressors; b) impacted parameters; c) node-level species properties; and d) network-level food web properties. Global warming emerges as the most common stressor among the studied areas across the latitudinal gradient, except in the Beagle Channel and Burdwood Bank, where alien species introduction and fisheries are more influential. We offer a series of alternative hypotheses on how warming may affect the food webs. This review emphasizes the benefits of using a network approach to understand and predict stressor effects in Southern Hemisphere marine ecosystems. This approach provides a holistic understanding of ecosystems, which enhances our ability to identify key species and their interactions, offering insights for ecosystem management and conservation in the face of global change stressors. https://doi.org/10.32942/X2331Z Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Marine Biology anthropogenic stressors, environmental stressors, food webs, latitudinal gradient, Southern Hemisphere Published: 2024-02-24 11:18 Last Updated: 2024-06-25 15:31 CC BY Attribution 4.0 International Conflict of interest statement: None Data and Code Availability Statement: Not applicable Language: English