Data from: Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes
Prey preference of top predators and energy flow across habitat boundaries are of fundamental importance for structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as they may have strong effects on production, species diversity, and food-web stability. In lakes, littoral and pelagic food-web...
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ftdryad:oai:v1.datadryad.org:10255/dryad.82102 2023-05-15T14:30:00+02:00 Data from: Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes Eloranta, Antti P. Kahilainen, Kimmo K. Amundsen, Per-Arne Knudsen, Rune Harrod, Chris Jones, Roger I. Northern Europe 2015-03-31T19:06:11Z http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.82102 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sc59f unknown doi:10.5061/dryad.sc59f/1 doi:10.1002/ece3.1464 PMID:25937909 doi:10.5061/dryad.sc59f Eloranta AP, Kahilainen KK, Amundsen P, Knudsen R, Harrod C, Jones RI (2015) Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes. Ecology and Evolution 5(8): 1664-1675. http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.82102 benthic energy mobilization resource competition stable isotope analysis trophic niche Article 2015 ftdryad https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sc59f https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sc59f/1 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1464 2020-01-01T15:17:19Z Prey preference of top predators and energy flow across habitat boundaries are of fundamental importance for structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as they may have strong effects on production, species diversity, and food-web stability. In lakes, littoral and pelagic food-web compartments are typically coupled and controlled by generalist fish top predators. However, the extent and determinants of such coupling remains a topical area of ecological research and is largely unknown in oligotrophic high-latitude lakes. We analyzed food-web structure and resource use by a generalist top predator, the Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus (L.), in 17 oligotrophic subarctic lakes covering a marked gradient in size (0.5–1084 km2) and fish species richness (2–13 species). We expected top predators to shift from littoral to pelagic energy sources with increasing lake size, as the availability of pelagic prey resources and the competition for littoral prey are both likely to be higher in large lakes with multispecies fish communities. We also expected top predators to occupy a higher trophic position in lakes with greater fish species richness due to potential substitution of intermediate consumers (prey fish) and increased piscivory by top predators. Based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses, the mean reliance of Arctic charr on littoral energy sources showed a significant negative relationship with lake surface area, whereas the mean trophic position of Arctic charr, reflecting the lake food-chain length, increased with fish species richness. These results were supported by stomach contents data demonstrating a shift of Arctic charr from an invertebrate-dominated diet to piscivory on pelagic fish. Our study highlights that, because they determine the main energy source (littoral vs. pelagic) and the trophic position of generalist top predators, ecosystem size and fish diversity are particularly important factors influencing function and structure of food webs in high-latitude lakes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic charr Arctic Salvelinus alpinus Subarctic Dryad Digital Repository (Duke University) Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Dryad Digital Repository (Duke University) |
op_collection_id |
ftdryad |
language |
unknown |
topic |
benthic energy mobilization resource competition stable isotope analysis trophic niche |
spellingShingle |
benthic energy mobilization resource competition stable isotope analysis trophic niche Eloranta, Antti P. Kahilainen, Kimmo K. Amundsen, Per-Arne Knudsen, Rune Harrod, Chris Jones, Roger I. Data from: Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes |
topic_facet |
benthic energy mobilization resource competition stable isotope analysis trophic niche |
description |
Prey preference of top predators and energy flow across habitat boundaries are of fundamental importance for structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as they may have strong effects on production, species diversity, and food-web stability. In lakes, littoral and pelagic food-web compartments are typically coupled and controlled by generalist fish top predators. However, the extent and determinants of such coupling remains a topical area of ecological research and is largely unknown in oligotrophic high-latitude lakes. We analyzed food-web structure and resource use by a generalist top predator, the Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus (L.), in 17 oligotrophic subarctic lakes covering a marked gradient in size (0.5–1084 km2) and fish species richness (2–13 species). We expected top predators to shift from littoral to pelagic energy sources with increasing lake size, as the availability of pelagic prey resources and the competition for littoral prey are both likely to be higher in large lakes with multispecies fish communities. We also expected top predators to occupy a higher trophic position in lakes with greater fish species richness due to potential substitution of intermediate consumers (prey fish) and increased piscivory by top predators. Based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses, the mean reliance of Arctic charr on littoral energy sources showed a significant negative relationship with lake surface area, whereas the mean trophic position of Arctic charr, reflecting the lake food-chain length, increased with fish species richness. These results were supported by stomach contents data demonstrating a shift of Arctic charr from an invertebrate-dominated diet to piscivory on pelagic fish. Our study highlights that, because they determine the main energy source (littoral vs. pelagic) and the trophic position of generalist top predators, ecosystem size and fish diversity are particularly important factors influencing function and structure of food webs in high-latitude lakes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Eloranta, Antti P. Kahilainen, Kimmo K. Amundsen, Per-Arne Knudsen, Rune Harrod, Chris Jones, Roger I. |
author_facet |
Eloranta, Antti P. Kahilainen, Kimmo K. Amundsen, Per-Arne Knudsen, Rune Harrod, Chris Jones, Roger I. |
author_sort |
Eloranta, Antti P. |
title |
Data from: Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes |
title_short |
Data from: Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes |
title_full |
Data from: Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes |
title_fullStr |
Data from: Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Data from: Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes |
title_sort |
data from: lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.82102 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sc59f |
op_coverage |
Northern Europe |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic charr Arctic Salvelinus alpinus Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic charr Arctic Salvelinus alpinus Subarctic |
op_relation |
doi:10.5061/dryad.sc59f/1 doi:10.1002/ece3.1464 PMID:25937909 doi:10.5061/dryad.sc59f Eloranta AP, Kahilainen KK, Amundsen P, Knudsen R, Harrod C, Jones RI (2015) Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes. Ecology and Evolution 5(8): 1664-1675. http://hdl.handle.net/10255/dryad.82102 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sc59f https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sc59f/1 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1464 |
_version_ |
1766303941961711616 |