We still know very little about how the environment influences coevolutionary dynamics. Here, we investigated both theoretically and empirically how nutrient availability affects the relative extent of escalation of resistance and infectivity (arms race dynamic; ARD) and fluctuating selection (fluctuating selection dynamic; FSD) in experimentally coevolving populations of bacteria and viruses. ...

Fishes can play important functional roles in the nutrient dynamics of freshwater systems. Aggregating fishes have the potential to generate areas of increased biogeochemical activity, or hotspots, in streams and rivers. Many of the studies documenting the functional role of fishes in nutrient dynamics have focused on native fish species; however, introduced fishes may restructure nutrient stor...

There has been important progress in understanding ecological dynamics through the development of the theory of ecological stoichiometry. For example, modeling under this framework allows food quality to affect consumer dynamics. While the effects of nutrient deficiency on consumer growth are well understood, recent discoveries in ecological stoichiometry suggest that consumer dynamics are not ...

This paper applies concepts of landscape ecology and patch dynamics to lotic systems. We present a framework for the investigation of pattern and process in lotic ecosystems that considers how specific patch characteristics determine biotic and abiotic processes over various scales. Patch characteristics include: size, size distribution within the landscape, juxtaposition, diversity, duration, ...

1. Over the past decade, studies of the effects of consumer-driven nutrient dynamics have become more common. This work has demonstrated that animals can function as sources and sinks of elements, but few studies have broadly compared these processes among organisms and across ecosystems. 2. Collectively, the articles in this special issue elucidate the important roles that organisms can play i...

Homeostatic organisms regulate their elemental composition by retaining nutrients that are limiting and eliminating those in excess. We argue that this type of homeostatic regulation by consumers might decouple the downstream movement of limiting and nonlimiting nutrients in streams. To illustrate the influence of consumers on nutrient spiraling, we developed a longitudinal model of stream nutr...