Food webs in Mediterranean rivers

摘要: River food webs are subject to two regimes of longitudinally varying ecological control: productivity and disturbance. Light-limited increases as channels widen downstream. Time windows for growth, however, shrink discharge increases, substrate particle size decreases, the frequency flood-driven bed mobilization Mediterranean rivers periodically reset by hydrologic events with somewhat predictable timing. Typically, a rainy winter high river is followed summer drought little or no rainfall slowly declining flow. The magnitude timing floods severity subsequent can vary considerably from year year, however. Episodic scouring prolonged periods experienced disturbances, stressors, opportunities biota. timing, duration, intensity these controls affect performances individuals, distribution abundances populations, outcomes consequences species interactions. These interactions in turn determine how will assemble, develop, reconfigure after We discuss spatial variation solar radiation temporal variations disturbance affects under climate seasonality, focusing primarily on long-term observations Eel northwestern California, USA.