Quantifying the Trophic Importance of Gulf Menhaden within the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem
The Gulf Menhaden Brevoortia patronus is frequently cited as playing a predominant role in the trophic structure and function of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) marine ecosystem, yet much work remains in quantifying its ecological importance. We performed a meta-analysis of diet studies to quantif...
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ftdatacite:10.6084/m9.figshare.3117361 2023-05-15T18:06:08+02:00 Quantifying the Trophic Importance of Gulf Menhaden within the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Sagarese, Skyler R. Nuttall, Matthew A. Geers, Tess M. Lauretta, Matthew V. Walter, John F. Serafy, Joseph E. 2016 https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3117361 https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Quantifying_the_Trophic_Importance_of_Gulf_Menhaden_within_the_Northern_Gulf_of_Mexico_Ecosystem/3117361 unknown Taylor & Francis https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19425120.2015.1091412 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode cc-by-4.0 CC-BY 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified FOS Earth and related environmental sciences Ecology FOS Biological sciences 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Marine Biology Inorganic Chemistry FOS Chemical sciences Text article-journal Journal contribution ScholarlyArticle 2016 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3117361 https://doi.org/10.1080/19425120.2015.1091412 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z The Gulf Menhaden Brevoortia patronus is frequently cited as playing a predominant role in the trophic structure and function of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) marine ecosystem, yet much work remains in quantifying its ecological importance. We performed a meta-analysis of diet studies to quantify the trophic role of Gulf Menhaden within this ecosystem. Of the 568 references consulted, 136 identified predator–prey interactions involving Gulf Menhaden, menhaden Brevoortia spp., or unidentified clupeid prey items. Overall, 79 species were reported to consume menhaden, and no significant difference was detected between the Atlantic Ocean and the GOM in the mean occurrence of Brevoortia spp. in predator stomachs. We employed a probabilistic approach using maximum likelihood estimation to quantify trophic interactions within the northern GOM, with a focus on the trophic role of Gulf Menhaden. The estimated contribution of identifiable menhaden to the diets of all predators generally ranged between 2% and 3%; the largest dietary contribution was identified for Blacktip Sharks Carcharhinus limbatus (8%), and lower estimates (<2%) were obtained for oceanic species, including sharks, billfishes, and tunas. When diet compositions were adjusted for unidentified prey by using the proportion of fish species biomass in the ecosystem, five predator groups showed a relatively large dependence on menhaden prey: juvenile King Mackerel Scomberomorus cavalla , juvenile Spanish Mackerel Scomberomorus maculatus , adult Spanish Mackerel, Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus , and Blacktip Sharks. The quantification of trophic linkages and key predators identified herein will be fundamental to future modeling efforts focused on the northern GOM ecosystem. Received March 24, 2015; accepted September 3, 2015 Text Red drum Sciaenops ocellatus DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
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DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
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language |
unknown |
topic |
59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified FOS Earth and related environmental sciences Ecology FOS Biological sciences 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Marine Biology Inorganic Chemistry FOS Chemical sciences |
spellingShingle |
59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified FOS Earth and related environmental sciences Ecology FOS Biological sciences 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Marine Biology Inorganic Chemistry FOS Chemical sciences Sagarese, Skyler R. Nuttall, Matthew A. Geers, Tess M. Lauretta, Matthew V. Walter, John F. Serafy, Joseph E. Quantifying the Trophic Importance of Gulf Menhaden within the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem |
topic_facet |
59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified FOS Earth and related environmental sciences Ecology FOS Biological sciences 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Marine Biology Inorganic Chemistry FOS Chemical sciences |
description |
The Gulf Menhaden Brevoortia patronus is frequently cited as playing a predominant role in the trophic structure and function of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) marine ecosystem, yet much work remains in quantifying its ecological importance. We performed a meta-analysis of diet studies to quantify the trophic role of Gulf Menhaden within this ecosystem. Of the 568 references consulted, 136 identified predator–prey interactions involving Gulf Menhaden, menhaden Brevoortia spp., or unidentified clupeid prey items. Overall, 79 species were reported to consume menhaden, and no significant difference was detected between the Atlantic Ocean and the GOM in the mean occurrence of Brevoortia spp. in predator stomachs. We employed a probabilistic approach using maximum likelihood estimation to quantify trophic interactions within the northern GOM, with a focus on the trophic role of Gulf Menhaden. The estimated contribution of identifiable menhaden to the diets of all predators generally ranged between 2% and 3%; the largest dietary contribution was identified for Blacktip Sharks Carcharhinus limbatus (8%), and lower estimates (<2%) were obtained for oceanic species, including sharks, billfishes, and tunas. When diet compositions were adjusted for unidentified prey by using the proportion of fish species biomass in the ecosystem, five predator groups showed a relatively large dependence on menhaden prey: juvenile King Mackerel Scomberomorus cavalla , juvenile Spanish Mackerel Scomberomorus maculatus , adult Spanish Mackerel, Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus , and Blacktip Sharks. The quantification of trophic linkages and key predators identified herein will be fundamental to future modeling efforts focused on the northern GOM ecosystem. Received March 24, 2015; accepted September 3, 2015 |
format |
Text |
author |
Sagarese, Skyler R. Nuttall, Matthew A. Geers, Tess M. Lauretta, Matthew V. Walter, John F. Serafy, Joseph E. |
author_facet |
Sagarese, Skyler R. Nuttall, Matthew A. Geers, Tess M. Lauretta, Matthew V. Walter, John F. Serafy, Joseph E. |
author_sort |
Sagarese, Skyler R. |
title |
Quantifying the Trophic Importance of Gulf Menhaden within the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem |
title_short |
Quantifying the Trophic Importance of Gulf Menhaden within the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem |
title_full |
Quantifying the Trophic Importance of Gulf Menhaden within the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying the Trophic Importance of Gulf Menhaden within the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying the Trophic Importance of Gulf Menhaden within the Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem |
title_sort |
quantifying the trophic importance of gulf menhaden within the northern gulf of mexico ecosystem |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3117361 https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Quantifying_the_Trophic_Importance_of_Gulf_Menhaden_within_the_Northern_Gulf_of_Mexico_Ecosystem/3117361 |
genre |
Red drum Sciaenops ocellatus |
genre_facet |
Red drum Sciaenops ocellatus |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19425120.2015.1091412 |
op_rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode cc-by-4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3117361 https://doi.org/10.1080/19425120.2015.1091412 |
_version_ |
1766177718841376768 |