The impact of El Nino on island ecosystems in the gulf of California
- Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
The El Nino event of 1992-1993 had significant effects on all functional levels of the terrestrial food web of islands in the Gulf of California. These islands are normally very dry; however, during this El Nino event, annual precipitation was nearly five times the median annual precipitation. This caused tremendous increases in plant cover and a significant rise in aerial arthropod abundance. At first, spiders benefited from increased productivity: in 1992, spiders increased to their highest densities in the three years of the study. However, in 1993, despite continued high plant cover and insect prey abundance, spider densities dropped precipitously. This decrease appears to be due to the emergence of numerous parasitoid wasps that formed a hidden trophic influence. Wasps were ineffective at controlling spider densities during dry years due to the absence of their adult food, nectar and pollen from flowering land plants. Abundant flowers during El Nino allowed the wasp population to increase and reproduce successfully.
- OSTI ID:
- 107133
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9507129-; ISSN 0012-9623; TRN: 95:006512-0049
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, Vol. 76, Issue 3; Conference: 80. anniversary of the transdisciplinary nature of ecology, Snowbird, UT (United States), 30 Jul - 3 Aug 1995; Other Information: PBD: Sep 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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