Abstract
The structure and diversity of ecological communities depend on species interactions and properties of the abiotic environment. Previous research has shown that both top-down (predation driven) and bottom-up (resource driven) processes are important determinants of ecosystem structures, but their relative impacts depend on ecosystem productivity. The main objective of this project is to investigate how Swedish predator communities in different bioclimatic regions have been affected by large-scale climate variation, using data from the Official Swedish Statistics for statistical modelling and time series analyses. This project will provide a basis for future research aimed at grasping the extent of ecosystem change caused by anthropogenic alterations of top-down and bottom-up processes, and to understand how these changes may threaten biodiversity.
Sweden