Stable Isotopes and Planktonic Trophic Structure in Arctic Lakes
Actual food—web structure or function is difficult to determine based on visual observation, gut analyses, or the feeding interactions expected from a given list of species. We used C and N stable—isotope distributions to define food—web structure in arctic lakes, and we compared that structure with...
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crwiley:10.2307/1940762 2024-06-23T07:50:00+00:00 Stable Isotopes and Planktonic Trophic Structure in Arctic Lakes Kling, George W. Fry, Brian O'Brien, W. John 1992 http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1940762 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F1940762 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/1940762 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecology volume 73, issue 2, page 561-566 ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170 journal-article 1992 crwiley https://doi.org/10.2307/1940762 2024-06-13T04:24:08Z Actual food—web structure or function is difficult to determine based on visual observation, gut analyses, or the feeding interactions expected from a given list of species. We used C and N stable—isotope distributions to define food—web structure in arctic lakes, and we compared that structure with results based on more traditional analyses. Although zooplankton species composition was similar across the eight lakes studied, the food—web structure varied greatly. In some lakes the copepod predator Heterocope fed on the herbivorous copepod Diaptomus as expected in a conventional food web. In most lakes, however, ° 1 5 N data were consistent with Heterocope functioning as an herbivore rather than a predator. These inferences were supported by evidence from carbon isotopes and energy—flow data. Our study indicates that only two or three trophic levels exist in the macrozoopolankton of these lakes, in comparison to five or six trophic levels reported in temperate lakes. Isotope analyses showed that actual food—web structure is poorly predicted from simple consideration of species lists and potential trophic interactions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Zooplankton Wiley Online Library Arctic Ecology 73 2 561 566 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Actual food—web structure or function is difficult to determine based on visual observation, gut analyses, or the feeding interactions expected from a given list of species. We used C and N stable—isotope distributions to define food—web structure in arctic lakes, and we compared that structure with results based on more traditional analyses. Although zooplankton species composition was similar across the eight lakes studied, the food—web structure varied greatly. In some lakes the copepod predator Heterocope fed on the herbivorous copepod Diaptomus as expected in a conventional food web. In most lakes, however, ° 1 5 N data were consistent with Heterocope functioning as an herbivore rather than a predator. These inferences were supported by evidence from carbon isotopes and energy—flow data. Our study indicates that only two or three trophic levels exist in the macrozoopolankton of these lakes, in comparison to five or six trophic levels reported in temperate lakes. Isotope analyses showed that actual food—web structure is poorly predicted from simple consideration of species lists and potential trophic interactions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kling, George W. Fry, Brian O'Brien, W. John |
spellingShingle |
Kling, George W. Fry, Brian O'Brien, W. John Stable Isotopes and Planktonic Trophic Structure in Arctic Lakes |
author_facet |
Kling, George W. Fry, Brian O'Brien, W. John |
author_sort |
Kling, George W. |
title |
Stable Isotopes and Planktonic Trophic Structure in Arctic Lakes |
title_short |
Stable Isotopes and Planktonic Trophic Structure in Arctic Lakes |
title_full |
Stable Isotopes and Planktonic Trophic Structure in Arctic Lakes |
title_fullStr |
Stable Isotopes and Planktonic Trophic Structure in Arctic Lakes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stable Isotopes and Planktonic Trophic Structure in Arctic Lakes |
title_sort |
stable isotopes and planktonic trophic structure in arctic lakes |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1940762 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F1940762 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/1940762 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Zooplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic Zooplankton |
op_source |
Ecology volume 73, issue 2, page 561-566 ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2307/1940762 |
container_title |
Ecology |
container_volume |
73 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
561 |
op_container_end_page |
566 |
_version_ |
1802640737750220800 |