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American alligators (<jats:italic>Alligator mississippiensis<\/jats:italic>) create and maintain \u2018alligator ponds\u2019 that serve as dry\u2010season refuges for other animals. During seasonal water recession, these ponds present an opportunity to examine predictions of the stress\u2010gradient (SGH) and intermediate disturbance hypotheses (IDH).<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n\n<jats:list-item><jats:p>To test the assumption that engineering would facilitate species coexistence in ponds along a stress gradient (seasonal drying), we modelled fish catch\u2010per\u2010unit\u2010effort (CPUE) in ponds and marshes using a long\u2010term dataset (1997\u20132022). Stomach contents (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20091677 from 46 species) and stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20093978 representing 91 taxa) from 2018 to 2019 were used to evaluate effects of engineering on trophic dynamics. We quantified diets, trophic niche areas, trophic positions and basal\u2010resource use among habitats and between seasons. As environmental stress increases, we used seasonal changes in trophic niche areas as a proxy for competition to examine SGH and IDH.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n\n<jats:list-item><jats:p>Across long\u2010term data, fish CPUE increased by a factor of 12 in alligator ponds as the marsh dried. This validates the assumption that ponds are an important dry\u2010season refuge. We found that 73% of diet shifts occurred during the dry season but that diets differed among habitats in only 11% of comparisons. From wet season to dry season, both stomach contents and stable isotopes revealed changes in niche areas. Direction of change depended on trophic guild but was opposite between stable\u2010isotope and stomach\u2010content niches, except for detritivores.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n\n<jats:list-item><jats:p>Stomach\u2010content niches generally increased suggesting decreased competition in the dry season consistent with existing theory, but stable\u2010isotope niches yielded the opposite. This may result from a temporal mismatch with stomach contents reflecting diets over hours, while stable isotopes integrate diet over weeks. Consumptive effects may have a stronger effect than competition on niche areas over longer time intervals.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n\n<jats:list-item><jats:p>Overall, our results demonstrated that alligators ameliorated dry\u2010season stress by engineering deep\u2010water habitats and altering food\u2010web dynamics. We propose that ecosystem engineers facilitate coexistence at intermediate values of stress\/disturbance consistent with predictions of both the SGH and IDH.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item>\n<\/jats:list>\n<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/1365-2656.14248","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,30]],"date-time":"2025-01-30T07:52:51Z","timestamp":1738223571000},"page":"611-626","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Habitat engineering by an apex predator generates spatial trophic dynamics across a temporal environmental stress gradient"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"94","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0772-4920","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter J.","family":"Flood","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences and Institute of Environment Florida International University  Miami Florida USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6443-7672","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bradley A.","family":"Strickland","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences and Institute of Environment Florida International University  Miami Florida USA"},{"name":"South Florida Natural Resource Center, Everglades National Park  Homestead Florida USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jeffrey L.","family":"Kline","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"South Florida Natural Resource Center, Everglades National Park  Homestead Florida USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8105-4067","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joel C.","family":"Trexler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences and Institute of Environment Florida International University  Miami Florida USA"},{"name":"Coastal and Marine Laboratory Florida State University  St. Teresa Florida USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_10_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/fwb.12084"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1139\/f83\u2010170"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1890\/14-0060.1"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600\u20100706.2012.00355.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0169\u20105347(94)90088\u20104"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2010.0018"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0703743104"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1656\/058.009.0307"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/rra.3908"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1365\u20102656.13142"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1656\/1528-7092(2004)003[0583:CONAAA]2.0.CO;2"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226101811.003.0006"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1577\/1548\u20108675(1999)019\u27e80957:eoaefs\u27e92.0.co;2"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/1365\u20102656.12819"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.199.4335.1302"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1641\/0006-3568(2006)056[0211:EEAEGI]2.0.CO;2"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2018.0983"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1008228706210"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/lom3.10257"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467\u2010018\u201004391\u20106"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fooweb.2022.e00265"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_23_1","volume-title":"Stomach contents and stable isotopes from the aquatic food web in Everglades National Park, Florida, USA, 2018\u20102019 ver 1","author":"Flood P. 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