Wilmers Christopher C, Post Eric, Peterson Rolf O, Vucetich John A
Ecol Lett. 2006 Apr;9(4):383-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00890.x.
Human-introduced disease and climatic change are increasingly perturbing natural ecosystems worldwide, but scientists know very little about how they interact to affect ecological dynamics. An outbreak of canine parvovirus (CPV) in the wolf population on Isle Royale allowed us to test the transient effects of an introduced pathogen and global climatic variation on the dynamics of a three-level food chain. Following the introduction of CPV, wolf numbers plummeted, precipitating a switch from top-down to bottom-up regulation of the moose population; consequently, the influence of climate on moose population growth rate doubled. This demonstrates that synergistic interactions between pathogens and climate can lead to shifts in trophic control, and suggests that predators in this system may play an important role in dampening the effects of climate change on the dynamics of their prey.
人类引入的疾病和气候变化正日益扰乱全球的自然生态系统，但科学家对它们如何相互作用以影响生态动态知之甚少。罗亚尔岛狼群中爆发的犬细小病毒（CPV）使我们能够测试一种引入病原体和全球气候变化对三级食物链动态的短期影响。CPV引入后，狼的数量急剧下降，导致驼鹿种群的调控从自上而下转变为自下而上；因此，气候对驼鹿种群增长率的影响增加了一倍。这表明病原体与气候之间的协同相互作用可导致营养控制的转变，并表明该系统中的捕食者可能在减轻气候变化对其猎物动态的影响方面发挥重要作用。
