A catastrophic coal mine spill in the Athabasca River watershed induces isotopic niche shifts in stream biota including an endangered rainbow trout ecotype
Freshwater biodiversity is declining from impacts associated with anthropogenic stressors. Here, we use carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) stable isotopes to assess food web effects following a coal mine spill that displaced biota and altered biophysical stream characteristics. We compared isotop...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2022
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 2023-12-17T10:26:56+01:00 A catastrophic coal mine spill in the Athabasca River watershed induces isotopic niche shifts in stream biota including an endangered rainbow trout ecotype Medinski, Nathan A. Maitland, Bryan M. Jardine, Timothy D. Drake, D. Andrew R. Poesch, Mark S. 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences volume 79, issue 8, page 1321-1334 ISSN 0706-652X 1205-7533 Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2022 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 2023-11-19T13:38:38Z Freshwater biodiversity is declining from impacts associated with anthropogenic stressors. Here, we use carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) stable isotopes to assess food web effects following a coal mine spill that displaced biota and altered biophysical stream characteristics. We compared isotopic niche metrics of benthic macroinvertebrates and the fish community, including non-native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and endangered Athabasca rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), to infer spatial differences in site-specific resource use along a habitat disturbance gradient. Predatory benthic macroinvertebrate trophic position was elevated where impacts from the spill were most pronounced. Autochthonous carbon contribution to consumer diets was lowest in biota sampled at the most highly impacted site from the mine spill, leading to an unexpected expansion of the isotopic niche size of rainbow trout and the aquatic invertebrate community. Collectively, our results suggest variation in trophic resource assimilation across multiple levels of the food web, fueled by the allochthonous energy pathway in highly impacted study sites. We conclude this reflects a biotic response to altered basal aquatic resources following a major industrial disturbance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Athabasca River Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Athabasca River Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Medinski, Nathan A. Maitland, Bryan M. Jardine, Timothy D. Drake, D. Andrew R. Poesch, Mark S. A catastrophic coal mine spill in the Athabasca River watershed induces isotopic niche shifts in stream biota including an endangered rainbow trout ecotype |
topic_facet |
Aquatic Science Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Freshwater biodiversity is declining from impacts associated with anthropogenic stressors. Here, we use carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) stable isotopes to assess food web effects following a coal mine spill that displaced biota and altered biophysical stream characteristics. We compared isotopic niche metrics of benthic macroinvertebrates and the fish community, including non-native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and endangered Athabasca rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), to infer spatial differences in site-specific resource use along a habitat disturbance gradient. Predatory benthic macroinvertebrate trophic position was elevated where impacts from the spill were most pronounced. Autochthonous carbon contribution to consumer diets was lowest in biota sampled at the most highly impacted site from the mine spill, leading to an unexpected expansion of the isotopic niche size of rainbow trout and the aquatic invertebrate community. Collectively, our results suggest variation in trophic resource assimilation across multiple levels of the food web, fueled by the allochthonous energy pathway in highly impacted study sites. We conclude this reflects a biotic response to altered basal aquatic resources following a major industrial disturbance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Medinski, Nathan A. Maitland, Bryan M. Jardine, Timothy D. Drake, D. Andrew R. Poesch, Mark S. |
author_facet |
Medinski, Nathan A. Maitland, Bryan M. Jardine, Timothy D. Drake, D. Andrew R. Poesch, Mark S. |
author_sort |
Medinski, Nathan A. |
title |
A catastrophic coal mine spill in the Athabasca River watershed induces isotopic niche shifts in stream biota including an endangered rainbow trout ecotype |
title_short |
A catastrophic coal mine spill in the Athabasca River watershed induces isotopic niche shifts in stream biota including an endangered rainbow trout ecotype |
title_full |
A catastrophic coal mine spill in the Athabasca River watershed induces isotopic niche shifts in stream biota including an endangered rainbow trout ecotype |
title_fullStr |
A catastrophic coal mine spill in the Athabasca River watershed induces isotopic niche shifts in stream biota including an endangered rainbow trout ecotype |
title_full_unstemmed |
A catastrophic coal mine spill in the Athabasca River watershed induces isotopic niche shifts in stream biota including an endangered rainbow trout ecotype |
title_sort |
catastrophic coal mine spill in the athabasca river watershed induces isotopic niche shifts in stream biota including an endangered rainbow trout ecotype |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 |
geographic |
Athabasca River |
geographic_facet |
Athabasca River |
genre |
Athabasca River |
genre_facet |
Athabasca River |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences volume 79, issue 8, page 1321-1334 ISSN 0706-652X 1205-7533 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2021-0112 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
_version_ |
1785578687526076416 |