Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs
Abstract Tracing the flow of dietary energy sources, especially in systems with a high degree of omnivory, is an ongoing challenge in ecology. In aquatic systems, one of the persistent challenges is in differentiating between autochthonous and allochthonous energy sources to top consumers. Bulk carb...
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crwiley:10.1002/ecs2.3360 2024-09-15T18:33:06+00:00 Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs Chiapella, Ariana M. Kainz, Martin J. Strecker, Angela L. Austrian Science Fund National Science Foundation 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3360 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3360 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecs2.3360 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3360 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecosphere volume 12, issue 2 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 journal-article 2021 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3360 2024-08-09T04:20:03Z Abstract Tracing the flow of dietary energy sources, especially in systems with a high degree of omnivory, is an ongoing challenge in ecology. In aquatic systems, one of the persistent challenges is in differentiating between autochthonous and allochthonous energy sources to top consumers. Bulk carbon stable isotope values of aquatic and terrestrial prey often overlap, making it difficult to delineate dietary energy pathways in food webs with high allochthonous prey subsidies, such as in many northern temperate waterbodies. We conducted a feeding experiment to explore how fatty acid stable isotopes may overcome the challenge of partitioning autochthonous and allochthonous energy pathways in aquatic consumers. We fed hatchery‐reared Arctic Char ( Salvelinus alpinus ) diets of either benthic invertebrates, terrestrial earthworms, or a mixture of both. We then compared how the stable carbon isotopes of fatty acids (δ 13 C FA ) distinguished between diet items and respective treatments in S. alpinus liver and muscle tissues, relative to bulk stable isotopes and fatty acid profiles. Although a high degree of variability of fatty acid stable carbon isotope values was present in all three measures, our results suggest that the ability of this method to overcome the challenges of bulk stable isotopes may be overstated. Finally, our study highlights the importance of further experimental investigation, and consideration of physiological and biochemical processes when employing this emerging method. Article in Journal/Newspaper Salvelinus alpinus Wiley Online Library Ecosphere 12 2 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract Tracing the flow of dietary energy sources, especially in systems with a high degree of omnivory, is an ongoing challenge in ecology. In aquatic systems, one of the persistent challenges is in differentiating between autochthonous and allochthonous energy sources to top consumers. Bulk carbon stable isotope values of aquatic and terrestrial prey often overlap, making it difficult to delineate dietary energy pathways in food webs with high allochthonous prey subsidies, such as in many northern temperate waterbodies. We conducted a feeding experiment to explore how fatty acid stable isotopes may overcome the challenge of partitioning autochthonous and allochthonous energy pathways in aquatic consumers. We fed hatchery‐reared Arctic Char ( Salvelinus alpinus ) diets of either benthic invertebrates, terrestrial earthworms, or a mixture of both. We then compared how the stable carbon isotopes of fatty acids (δ 13 C FA ) distinguished between diet items and respective treatments in S. alpinus liver and muscle tissues, relative to bulk stable isotopes and fatty acid profiles. Although a high degree of variability of fatty acid stable carbon isotope values was present in all three measures, our results suggest that the ability of this method to overcome the challenges of bulk stable isotopes may be overstated. Finally, our study highlights the importance of further experimental investigation, and consideration of physiological and biochemical processes when employing this emerging method. |
author2 |
Austrian Science Fund National Science Foundation |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chiapella, Ariana M. Kainz, Martin J. Strecker, Angela L. |
spellingShingle |
Chiapella, Ariana M. Kainz, Martin J. Strecker, Angela L. Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
author_facet |
Chiapella, Ariana M. Kainz, Martin J. Strecker, Angela L. |
author_sort |
Chiapella, Ariana M. |
title |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_short |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_full |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_fullStr |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_sort |
fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3360 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3360 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ecs2.3360 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.3360 |
genre |
Salvelinus alpinus |
genre_facet |
Salvelinus alpinus |
op_source |
Ecosphere volume 12, issue 2 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3360 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
2 |
_version_ |
1810474849208893440 |