Experimental evidence of size-selective harvest and environmental stochasticity effects on population demography, fluctuations and non-linearity

Theory and analyses of fisheries data sets indicate that harvesting can alter population structure and destabilise non-linear processes, which increases population fluctuations. We conducted a factorial experiment on the population dynamics of Daphnia magna in relation to size-selective harvesting and stochasticity of food supply. Harvesting and stochasticity treatments both increased population fluctuations. Timeseries analysis indicated that fluctuations in control populations were non-linear, and non-linearity increased substantially in response to harvesting. Both harvesting and stochasticity induced population juvenescence, but harvesting did so via the depletion of adults, whereas stochasticity increased the abundance of juveniles. A fitted fisheries model indicated that harvesting shifted populations towards higher reproductive rates and larger-magnitude damped oscillations that amplify demographic noise. These findings provide experimental evidence that harvesting increases the non-linearity of population fluctuations and that both harvesting and stochasticity increase population variability and juvenescence.

Automated summary

Theory and analyses suggest that harvesting can disrupt population structure, leading to increased fluctuations. We conducted an experiment on Daphnia magna to study the effects of size-selective harvesting and stochasticity of food supply on population dynamics. Both harvesting and stochasticity increased population fluctuations. Harvesting depleted adults and induced population juvenescence, while stochasticity increased the abundance of juveniles. A fisheries model showed that harvesting led to higher reproductive rates and amplified demographic noise. These findings demonstrate that harvesting and stochasticity increase population variability and juvenescence.