Resource polymorphism in European whitefish: Analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone.
Resource polymorphism-whereby ancestral generalist populations give rise to several specialised morphs along a resource gradient-is common where species colonise newly formed ecosystems. This phenomenon is particularly well documented in freshwater fish populations inhabiting postglacial lakes forme...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:28869f0212c346a0a8153d5285d56753 2023-05-15T16:12:09+02:00 Resource polymorphism in European whitefish: Analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone. Stephen M Thomas Martin J Kainz Per-Arne Amundsen Brian Hayden Sami J Taipale Kimmo K Kahilainen 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221338 https://doaj.org/article/28869f0212c346a0a8153d5285d56753 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221338 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221338 https://doaj.org/article/28869f0212c346a0a8153d5285d56753 PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 8, p e0221338 (2019) Medicine R Science Q article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221338 2022-12-31T05:56:43Z Resource polymorphism-whereby ancestral generalist populations give rise to several specialised morphs along a resource gradient-is common where species colonise newly formed ecosystems. This phenomenon is particularly well documented in freshwater fish populations inhabiting postglacial lakes formed at the end of the last ice age. However, knowledge on how such differential exploitation of resources across contrasting habitats might be reflected in the biochemical compositions of diverging populations is still limited, though such patterns might be expected. Here, we aimed to assess how fatty acids (FA)-an important biochemical component of animal tissues-diverged across a polymorphic complex of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) and their closely related monomorphic specialist congener vendace (Coregonus albula) inhabiting a series of six subarctic lakes in northern Fennoscandia. We also explored patterns of FA composition in whitefish's predators and invertebrate prey to assess how divergence in trophic ecology between whitefish morphs would relate to biochemical profiles of their key food web associates. Lastly, we assessed how information on trophic divergence provided by differential FA composition compared to evidence of resource polymorphism retrieved from more classical stomach content and stable isotopic (δ13C, δ15N) information. Examination of stomach contents provided high-resolution information on recently consumed prey, whereas stable isotopes indicated broad-scale patterns of benthic-pelagic resource use differentiation at different trophic levels. Linear discriminant analysis based on FA composition was substantially more successful in identifying whitefish morphs and their congener vendace as distinct groupings when compared to the other two methods. Three major FA (myristic acid, stearic acid, and eicosadienoic acid) proved particularly informative, both in delineating coregonid groups, and identifying patterns of pelagic-benthic feeding throughout the wider food web. Myristic acid (14:0) ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Fennoscandia Subarctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 14 8 e0221338 |
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Medicine R Science Q Stephen M Thomas Martin J Kainz Per-Arne Amundsen Brian Hayden Sami J Taipale Kimmo K Kahilainen Resource polymorphism in European whitefish: Analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Resource polymorphism-whereby ancestral generalist populations give rise to several specialised morphs along a resource gradient-is common where species colonise newly formed ecosystems. This phenomenon is particularly well documented in freshwater fish populations inhabiting postglacial lakes formed at the end of the last ice age. However, knowledge on how such differential exploitation of resources across contrasting habitats might be reflected in the biochemical compositions of diverging populations is still limited, though such patterns might be expected. Here, we aimed to assess how fatty acids (FA)-an important biochemical component of animal tissues-diverged across a polymorphic complex of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) and their closely related monomorphic specialist congener vendace (Coregonus albula) inhabiting a series of six subarctic lakes in northern Fennoscandia. We also explored patterns of FA composition in whitefish's predators and invertebrate prey to assess how divergence in trophic ecology between whitefish morphs would relate to biochemical profiles of their key food web associates. Lastly, we assessed how information on trophic divergence provided by differential FA composition compared to evidence of resource polymorphism retrieved from more classical stomach content and stable isotopic (δ13C, δ15N) information. Examination of stomach contents provided high-resolution information on recently consumed prey, whereas stable isotopes indicated broad-scale patterns of benthic-pelagic resource use differentiation at different trophic levels. Linear discriminant analysis based on FA composition was substantially more successful in identifying whitefish morphs and their congener vendace as distinct groupings when compared to the other two methods. Three major FA (myristic acid, stearic acid, and eicosadienoic acid) proved particularly informative, both in delineating coregonid groups, and identifying patterns of pelagic-benthic feeding throughout the wider food web. Myristic acid (14:0) ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stephen M Thomas Martin J Kainz Per-Arne Amundsen Brian Hayden Sami J Taipale Kimmo K Kahilainen |
author_facet |
Stephen M Thomas Martin J Kainz Per-Arne Amundsen Brian Hayden Sami J Taipale Kimmo K Kahilainen |
author_sort |
Stephen M Thomas |
title |
Resource polymorphism in European whitefish: Analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone. |
title_short |
Resource polymorphism in European whitefish: Analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone. |
title_full |
Resource polymorphism in European whitefish: Analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone. |
title_fullStr |
Resource polymorphism in European whitefish: Analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Resource polymorphism in European whitefish: Analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone. |
title_sort |
resource polymorphism in european whitefish: analysis of fatty acid profiles provides more detailed evidence than traditional methods alone. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221338 https://doaj.org/article/28869f0212c346a0a8153d5285d56753 |
genre |
Fennoscandia Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Fennoscandia Subarctic |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 8, p e0221338 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221338 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221338 https://doaj.org/article/28869f0212c346a0a8153d5285d56753 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221338 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
e0221338 |
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1765997395172130816 |