Ryan F. Hechinger, Kevin D. Lafferty, John P. McLaughlin, Brian L. Fredensborg, Todd C. Huspeni, Julio Lorda, Parwant K. Sandhu, Jenny C. Shaw, Mark E. Torchin, Kathleen L. Whitney, and Armand M. Kuris. 2011. Food webs including parasites, biomass, body sizes, and life stages for three California/Baja California estuaries. Ecology 92:791.


Data Paper

Ecological Archives E092-066-D1.

Copyright


Authors
Data Files
Abstract
Metadata


Author(s)

Ryan F. Hechinger
Marine Science Institute
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-6150 USA
[email protected]

Kevin D. Lafferty
Marine Science Institute
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
[email protected]

John P. McLaughlin
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
[email protected]
Jenny Shaw
Marine Science Institute
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
[email protected]

Brian Fredensborg
Department of Biology
University of Texas Pan-American
Edinburg, TX 78539-2999
[email protected]

Todd C. Huspeni
Department of Biology
University of Wisconsin
Stevens Point, WI 54481
[email protected]

Julio Lorda
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9610
[email protected]

Parwant Sandhu
University of California, Santa Barbara
[email protected]

Mark Torchin
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9610 Panama
[email protected]

Kathleen Louise Whitney
Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
[email protected]

Armand M. Kuris
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology
University of California Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
[email protected]

Data Files

Data files are ASCII text, tab delimited.
Metaweb_Nodes.txt - The node information for the compiled Metaweb.
Metaweb_Links.txt - The trophic link information for the compiled Metaweb.
CSMweb_Nodes.txt - The node information for the Carpinteria Salt Marsh system only.
CSMweb_Links.txt - The trophic link information for the Carpinteria Salt Marsh system only.
EPBweb_Nodes.txt - The node information for the Estero de Punta Banda system only.
EPBweb_Links.txt - The trophic link information for the Estero de Punta Banda system only.
BSQweb_Nodes.txt - The node information for the Bahia Falsa in the Bahia San Quint�n system only.
BSQweb_Links.txt - The trophic link information for the Bahia Falsa in the Bahia San Quint�n system only.
All_Data_Files.zip - A zip file containing all the above data files.

Table files are HTML.
Table 2A.htm - Column header descriptions for Nodes data files.
Table 2B.htm - Column variable descriptions for Nodes data files.
Table 3A.htm - Column header descriptions for Links data files.
Table 3B.htm - Column variable descriptions for Links data files.
Table 3C.htm - Link-type definitions for Links data files.
Table 4.htm - Missing and under-represented groups and severely aggregated nodes.
All_Metadata_Tables.zip - A zipped file containing Tables 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 3C, and 4.

Abstract

This data set presents food webs for three North American Pacific Coast estuaries and a �Metaweb� composed of the species/stages compiled from all three estuaries. The webs have four noteworthy attributes: (1) parasites (infectious agents), (2) body-size information, (3) biomass information, and (4) ontogenetic stages of many animals with complex life cycles. The estuaries are Carpinteria Salt Marsh, California (CSM); Estero de Punta Banda, Baja California (EPB); and Bahia Falsa in Bahia San Quint�n, Baja California (BSQ). Most data on species assemblages and parasitism were gathered via consistent sampling that acquired body size and biomass information for plants and animals larger than ~1 mm, and for many infectious agents (mostly metazoan parasites, but also some microbes). We augmented this with information from additional published sources and by sampling unrepresented groups (e.g., plankton). We estimated free-living consumer–resource links primarily by extending a previously published version of the CSM web (which the current CSM web supplants) and determined most parasite consumer–resource links from direct observation. We recognize 21 possible link types including four general interactions: predators consuming prey, parasites consuming hosts, predators consuming parasites, and parasites consuming parasites. While generally resolved to the species level, we report stage-specific nodes for many complex-life-cycle animals. We include additional biological information for each node, such as taxonomy, lifestyle (free-living, infectious, commensal, mutualist), mobility, and residency. The Metaweb includes 500 nodes, 314 species, and 11,270 links projected to be present given appropriate species� co-occurrences. Of these, 9247 links were present in one or more of the estuarine webs. The remaining 2023 links were not present in the estuaries but are included here because they may occur in other places or times. Initial analyses have examined and are examining the interrelationships between consumer strategy, body size, abundance, biomass, trophic level, life stages, and food-web structure and dynamics. Further use of these data may enable a more general exploration how infectious processes and parasites impact communities and ecosystems. Additionally, we present the data and metadata in a standardized format, attempting to provide a system-neutral template for future food-web assembly and publication.

Key words: Bahia San Quint�n (Mexico); biomass; body size; Carpinteria Salt Marsh, California (USA); complex life cycles; consumer resource; Estero de Punta Banda (Mexico); estuary; food webs; infectious agents; parasites; trophic interactions.


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