Food Web Dynamics Program

The Food Web Dynamics Program (FWDP), located at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) , Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) , Woods Hole Laboratory , and part of the Population Biology Branch , examines the magnitude of predation and the impact of selective harvesting patterns on fish community dynamics. The Program documents predator-prey and competitive interactions among fish populations and assesses the joint impact of harvesting and ecological interactions on these populations. The FWDP conducts research to determine the impact of changing predator biomass on commercially- and ecologically-important species of the northeast U.S. continental shelf.

Food Web Dynamics exists to serve four purposes: 1) to assess predation mortality (relative to fishing mortality) of commercially important fishes, 2) to mechanistically and predictively model species interactions that impact the status of these stocks, enhancing identification of critical life stages, 3) to relate changes in diet to changes in population level growth rates, and 4) to understand the structure and dynamics of the northeast continental shelf ecosystem.