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Markus Steinkopf

Trophic lengthening and its impact on the functional biodiversity of estuarine and brackish ecosystems

Universität Rostock, 2024

https://doi.org/10.18453/rosdok_id00005054

Abstract: The collapse of seabird or fish populations often signals disruptions in ecosystems altered by stressors. This dissertation compares food webs in the Elbe and Oder estuaries and the Baltic Sea to illustrate how stressors like eutrophication and turbidity affect food web structures. Stressed food webs elongate, causing energy loss at higher levels, which can lead to population collapse. Changes in nitrogen sources and the rise of microbial systems at the base of the food web are key factors in this trophic lengthening.

doctoral thesis   free access