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Cited by 678

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 37 of the 37 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Reconceptualizing synergism and antagonism among multiple stressors

Open access
Piggott, Jeremy J., Townsend, Colin R., Matthaei, Christoph D.·2015·Ecology and Evolution
DOI 10.1002/ece3.1465
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Abstract

The potential for complex synergistic or antagonistic interactions between multiple stressors presents one of the largest uncertainties when predicting ecological change but, despite common use of the terms in the scientific literature, a consensus on their operational definition is still lacking. The identification of synergism or antagonism is generally straightforward when stressors operate in the same direction, but if individual stressor effects oppose each other, the definition of synergism is paradoxical because what is synergistic to one stressor's effect direction is antagonistic to the others. In their highly cited meta‐analysis, Crain et al. (Ecology Letters, 11, 2008: 1304) assumed in situations with opposing individual effects that synergy only occurs when the cumulative effect is more negative than the additive sum of the opposing individual effects. We argue against this and propose a new systematic classification based on an additive effects model that combines the magnitude and response direction of the cumulative effect and the interaction effect. A new class of “mitigating synergism” is identified, where cumulative effects are reversed and enhanced. We applied our directional classification to the dataset compiled by Crain et al. (Ecology Letters,11, 2008: 1304) to determine the prevalence of synergistic, antagonistic, and additive interactions. Compared to their original analysis, we report differences in the representation of interaction classes by interaction type and we document examples of mitigating synergism, highlighting the importance of incorporating individual stressor effect directions in the determination of synergisms and antagonisms. This is particularly pertinent given a general bias in ecology toward investigating and reporting adverse multiple stressor effects (double negative). We emphasize the need for reconsideration by the ecological community of the interpretation of synergism and antagonism in situations where individual stressor effects oppose each other or where cumulative effects are reversed and enhanced.

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Metadata

Authors
Piggott, J. J., Townsend, C. R., & Matthaei, C. D.
Venue
Ecology and Evolution
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-03-11
Volume
5
Issue
7
Pages
1538-1547
ISSN
2045-7758 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1002/ece3.1465
OpenAlex
W2069912803
Cited by
678
References
37
FWCI
46.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
gold

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