Trophic indices for micronektonic fishes reveal their dependence on the microbial system in the North Atlantic
Abstract The importance of microbes for the functioning of oceanic food webs is well established, but their relevance for top consumers is still poorly appreciated. Large differences in individual size, and consequently in growth rates and the relevant spatial and temporal scales involved, make the...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c5bb005103c14676b44e8c1d3bd58e82 2023-05-15T17:33:46+02:00 Trophic indices for micronektonic fishes reveal their dependence on the microbial system in the North Atlantic Antonio Bode M. Pilar Olivar Santiago Hernández-León 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87767-x https://doaj.org/article/c5bb005103c14676b44e8c1d3bd58e82 EN eng Nature Portfolio https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87767-x https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-021-87767-x 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/c5bb005103c14676b44e8c1d3bd58e82 Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021) Medicine R Science Q article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87767-x 2022-12-31T09:21:15Z Abstract The importance of microbes for the functioning of oceanic food webs is well established, but their relevance for top consumers is still poorly appreciated. Large differences in individual size, and consequently in growth rates and the relevant spatial and temporal scales involved, make the integration of microorganisms and large metazoans in a common food web framework difficult. Using stable isotopes, this study estimated the trophic position of 13 species of micronektonic fishes to examine the microbial and metazoan contribution to mid trophic level consumers. Vertically migrant species displayed higher trophic positions than non-migrant species in all depth layers. The estimated trophic positions agreed well with those from the literature, but all species displayed mean increases between 0.5 and 0.8 trophic positions when taking into account microbial trophic steps. Trophic position, but not the relative importance of the microbial food web, increased with individual size, suggesting that current estimates of the trophic position of top consumers and of the length of oceanic food webs are too low because they are based only on metazoan trophic steps. This finding calls for a review of trophic position estimates and of the efficiency of trophic transfers along oceanic food webs. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Scientific Reports 11 1 |
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English |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Antonio Bode M. Pilar Olivar Santiago Hernández-León Trophic indices for micronektonic fishes reveal their dependence on the microbial system in the North Atlantic |
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Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Abstract The importance of microbes for the functioning of oceanic food webs is well established, but their relevance for top consumers is still poorly appreciated. Large differences in individual size, and consequently in growth rates and the relevant spatial and temporal scales involved, make the integration of microorganisms and large metazoans in a common food web framework difficult. Using stable isotopes, this study estimated the trophic position of 13 species of micronektonic fishes to examine the microbial and metazoan contribution to mid trophic level consumers. Vertically migrant species displayed higher trophic positions than non-migrant species in all depth layers. The estimated trophic positions agreed well with those from the literature, but all species displayed mean increases between 0.5 and 0.8 trophic positions when taking into account microbial trophic steps. Trophic position, but not the relative importance of the microbial food web, increased with individual size, suggesting that current estimates of the trophic position of top consumers and of the length of oceanic food webs are too low because they are based only on metazoan trophic steps. This finding calls for a review of trophic position estimates and of the efficiency of trophic transfers along oceanic food webs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Antonio Bode M. Pilar Olivar Santiago Hernández-León |
author_facet |
Antonio Bode M. Pilar Olivar Santiago Hernández-León |
author_sort |
Antonio Bode |
title |
Trophic indices for micronektonic fishes reveal their dependence on the microbial system in the North Atlantic |
title_short |
Trophic indices for micronektonic fishes reveal their dependence on the microbial system in the North Atlantic |
title_full |
Trophic indices for micronektonic fishes reveal their dependence on the microbial system in the North Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Trophic indices for micronektonic fishes reveal their dependence on the microbial system in the North Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Trophic indices for micronektonic fishes reveal their dependence on the microbial system in the North Atlantic |
title_sort |
trophic indices for micronektonic fishes reveal their dependence on the microbial system in the north atlantic |
publisher |
Nature Portfolio |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87767-x https://doaj.org/article/c5bb005103c14676b44e8c1d3bd58e82 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87767-x https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-021-87767-x 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/c5bb005103c14676b44e8c1d3bd58e82 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87767-x |
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Scientific Reports |
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11 |
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1766132390149750784 |