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Food Web Theory and Ecological Restoration

  • Chapter
Foundations of Restoration Ecology

Abstract

No species exists in a vacuum. Rather, species are embedded within a network of predator-prey interactions in what Charles Darwin referred to as an “entangled bank” (Darwin 1859) and is now known more generally as a food web. In its most fundamental form, a food web provides insight into the feeding relationships in a system. More broadly, food webs represent a way of envisioning ecological systems that considers trophic (consumer-resource) interactions among species or groups of similar species (trophic guilds or trophic levels). Food web ecology is a constantly evolving subdiscipline of ecology, and it is important to appreciate the diversity of approaches to the study of food webs (Schoener 1989; Polis and Winemiller 1996; Montoya et al. 2006).

Theory and Application

• A food web can convey many different types of information: the number of trophic levels, the pathways of energy flow, the biomass of organisms, or the most dynamically important linkages. Specifying what is meant is an essential first step.

• Simple food chain models have been useful in restoration, for example, the use of biomanipulation to improve lake water quality via trophic cascades.

• Systems often exhibit complex interactions such as apparent competition, which has deeply influenced restoration of island ecosystems affected by invasive species.

• Our intent is to highlight the potential value of ‘food web thinking’—recognizing the role of predator-prey relationships—in ecological restoration.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Matt Diebel, Jeff Maxted, Helen Sarakinos, Dave Pepin, and Bill Feeny for assistance on an earlier version of this chapter. Special thanks to the editors for their useful input and the opportunity to contribute to this book.

Authors
  1. M. Jake Vander Zanden
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  2. Julian D. Olden
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  3. Claudio Gratton
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  4. Tyler D. Tunney
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Socio Environmental Synthesis Center, Park Place, Suite 300, 1, 21401, Annapolis, MD, USA

    Margaret A. Palmer

  2. Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lincoln Drive, 430, 53706, Madison, WI, USA

    Joy B. Zedler

  3. University of Arizona School Natural Resources and Environment, E. Lowell Street, 1064, 85721, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Donald A. Falk

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Zanden, M.J.V., Olden, J.D., Gratton, C., Tunney, T.D. (2016). Food Web Theory and Ecological Restoration. In: Palmer, M.A., Zedler, J.B., Falk, D.A. (eds) Foundations of Restoration Ecology. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-698-1_11

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