Carrie Byron publishes article exploring regime shifts in ocean ecosystems
Carrie J. Byron, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the 鶹ýMarine Science Center, is the coauthor of a new article that appears in a special issue of Philosophical Transactions B, a journal of The Royal Society Publishing. The issue, which focuses on ocean regime shifts, includes “Evaluating Trophic Cascades as Drivers of Regime Shifts in Different Ocean Ecosystems,” which Byron co-wrote with undergraduate students, graduate students, post-doctoral students and senior researchers from UNE, the University of Maine at Orono, the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Studies and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
The article explores whether trophic cascades are the drivers of regime shifts in different ocean ecosystems. A trophic cascade is characterized by top predators in a food web impacting lower trophic level species through a trickle-down effect (like a cascade). In some ecosystems, a trophic cascade may be strong enough to change the ecosystem, causing a regime shift.
“Working across disciplines and institutions not only allows for the generation of rigorous science but demonstrates to an international audience the strength of UNE’s professional network,” Byron commented.
The primary finding of the investigation concluded that regime shifts are rare in open ocean ecosystems and that their likelihood increases as residence time of the water in the system increases.
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