The Effects of Hypoxia on Marine Food Webs and Ecosystems

Dear Colleagues,

Hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen) is a growing concern for marine ecosystems as the global climate warms and coastal waters are increasingly influenced by anthropogenic eutrophication. In many regions, the spatial and temporal extent as well as the intensity of hypoxia is expanding. The effects of hypoxia on marine ecosystems are expressed through direct effects on the growth and survival of populations and indirect effects on communities and food webs, nutrients, carbon cycling, and energy flow. In regions of moderate or ephemeral hypoxia, subtle shifts in species habitat use and distributions can alter predator–prey overlap and encounter rates. Under intense or chronic oxygen depletion, trophic interactions, species composition, and diversity can be dramatically affected through species-specific differences in hypoxia tolerance. Differential changes in movement and escape behaviors, hypoxia avoidance, or the use of hypoxic refuges can lead to large changes in predator–prey interactions. Short- or long-term physiological adaptations of individuals to hypoxia can alter biomass and energy flow on the community scale. These changes can have dramatic ecosystem consequences with ramifications for fisheries and the societies that depend on them. ­­

This Special Issue is designed to bring together new information, syntheses, and reviews of the impacts of hypoxia on the world’s estuaries, oceans, and societies through its effects on marine organisms, communities, and food webs—information that is critically needed to better manage and preserve our future marine resources.

Dr. Julie Keister
Guest Editor

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