Natural dimethyl sulfide gradients would lead marine predators to higher prey biomassShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Communications Biology, E-ISSN 2399-3642, Vol. 4, article id 149Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Finding prey is essential to survival, with marine predators hypothesised to track chemicals such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS) while foraging. Many predators are attracted to artificially released DMS, and laboratory experiments have shown that zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton accelerates DMS release. However, whether natural DMS concentrations are useful for predators and correlated to areas of high prey biomass remains a fundamental knowledge gap. Here, we used concurrent hydroacoustic surveys and in situ DMS measurements to present evidence that zooplankton biomass is spatially correlated to natural DMS concentration in air and seawater. Using agent simulations, we also show that following gradients of DMS would lead zooplankton predators to areas of higher prey biomass than swimming randomly. Further understanding of the conditions and scales over which these gradients occur, and how they are used by predators, is essential to predicting the impact of future changes in the ocean on predator foraging success.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2021. Vol. 4, article id 149
National Category
Behavioral Sciences Biology Ecology Physical Chemistry
Research subject
Man and the environment
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-4178OAI: oai:DiVA.org:nrm-4178DiVA, id: diva2:1524806
2021-02-022021-02-022021-02-02Bibliographically approved