Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments
Abstract Generalist feeding strategies are favoured in stressful or variable environments where flexibility in ecological traits is beneficial. Species that feed across multiple habitat types and trophic levels may impart stability on food webs through the use of readily available, alternative energ...
Published in: | Ecology of Freshwater Fish |
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crwiley:10.1111/eff.12391 2024-06-23T07:49:55+00:00 Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments Laske, Sarah M. Rosenberger, Amanda E. Wipfli, Mark S. Zimmerman, Christian E. U.S. Geological Survey 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eff.12391 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Feff.12391 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/eff.12391 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/eff.12391 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1111/eff.12391 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecology of Freshwater Fish volume 27, issue 3, page 767-784 ISSN 0906-6691 1600-0633 journal-article 2018 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/eff.12391 2024-06-06T04:24:52Z Abstract Generalist feeding strategies are favoured in stressful or variable environments where flexibility in ecological traits is beneficial. Species that feed across multiple habitat types and trophic levels may impart stability on food webs through the use of readily available, alternative energy pools. In lakes, generalist fish species may take advantage of spatially and temporally variable prey by consuming both benthic and pelagic prey to meet their energy demands. Using stomach content and stable isotope analyses, we examined the feeding habits of fish species in Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) lakes to determine the prevalence of generalist feeding strategies as a mechanism for persistence in extreme environments (e.g. low productivity, extreme cold and short growing season). Generalist and flexible feeding strategies were evident in five common fish species. Fish fed on benthic and pelagic (or nektonic) prey and across trophic levels. Three species were clearly omnivorous, feeding on fish and their shared invertebrate prey. Dietary differences based on stomach content analysis often exceeded 70%, and overlap in dietary niches based on shared isotopic space varied from zero to 40%. Metrics of community‐wide trophic structure varied with the number and identity of species involved and on the dietary overlap and niche size of individual fishes. Accumulation of energy from shared carbon sources by Arctic fishes creates redundancy in food webs, increasing likely resistance to perturbations or stochastic events. Therefore, the generalist and omnivorous feeding strategies employed by ACP fish may maintain energy flow and food web stability in extreme environments. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Wiley Online Library Arctic Ecology of Freshwater Fish 27 3 767 784 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
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Abstract Generalist feeding strategies are favoured in stressful or variable environments where flexibility in ecological traits is beneficial. Species that feed across multiple habitat types and trophic levels may impart stability on food webs through the use of readily available, alternative energy pools. In lakes, generalist fish species may take advantage of spatially and temporally variable prey by consuming both benthic and pelagic prey to meet their energy demands. Using stomach content and stable isotope analyses, we examined the feeding habits of fish species in Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) lakes to determine the prevalence of generalist feeding strategies as a mechanism for persistence in extreme environments (e.g. low productivity, extreme cold and short growing season). Generalist and flexible feeding strategies were evident in five common fish species. Fish fed on benthic and pelagic (or nektonic) prey and across trophic levels. Three species were clearly omnivorous, feeding on fish and their shared invertebrate prey. Dietary differences based on stomach content analysis often exceeded 70%, and overlap in dietary niches based on shared isotopic space varied from zero to 40%. Metrics of community‐wide trophic structure varied with the number and identity of species involved and on the dietary overlap and niche size of individual fishes. Accumulation of energy from shared carbon sources by Arctic fishes creates redundancy in food webs, increasing likely resistance to perturbations or stochastic events. Therefore, the generalist and omnivorous feeding strategies employed by ACP fish may maintain energy flow and food web stability in extreme environments. |
author2 |
U.S. Geological Survey |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Laske, Sarah M. Rosenberger, Amanda E. Wipfli, Mark S. Zimmerman, Christian E. |
spellingShingle |
Laske, Sarah M. Rosenberger, Amanda E. Wipfli, Mark S. Zimmerman, Christian E. Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments |
author_facet |
Laske, Sarah M. Rosenberger, Amanda E. Wipfli, Mark S. Zimmerman, Christian E. |
author_sort |
Laske, Sarah M. |
title |
Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments |
title_short |
Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments |
title_full |
Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments |
title_fullStr |
Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments |
title_full_unstemmed |
Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments |
title_sort |
generalist feeding strategies in arctic freshwater fish: a mechanism for dealing with extreme environments |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eff.12391 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Feff.12391 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/eff.12391 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/eff.12391 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1111/eff.12391 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Ecology of Freshwater Fish volume 27, issue 3, page 767-784 ISSN 0906-6691 1600-0633 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/eff.12391 |
container_title |
Ecology of Freshwater Fish |
container_volume |
27 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
767 |
op_container_end_page |
784 |
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1802640638209949696 |