Dynamics of an estuarine nursery ground: the spatio-temporal relationship between the river flow and the food web of the juvenile common sole (Solea solea, L.) as revealed by stable isotopes analysis

• Published in: Journal of Sea Research
• Main Authors: Kostecki, C., Le Loc’h, François, Roussel, Jean-Marc, Desroy, N., Huteau, D., Riera, Pascal, Le Bris, Hervé, Le Pape, Olivier
• Other Authors: Écologie et santé des écosystèmes (ESE), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AGROCAMPUS OUEST, Centre De Recherche et d'Enseignement sur les Systèmes Côtiers (CRESCO), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Adaptation et diversité en milieu marin (AD2M), Station biologique de Roscoff Roscoff (SBR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: Juvenile Common Sole; Stable Isotopes; Estuarine Nursery Grounds; Food; Web; Eastern Atlantic; organic-matter; habitat suitability; quantitative description; terrestrial carbon; northeast atlantic; marennes-oleron; thames estuary; biscay france; fish; bay; [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Ecosystems; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: https://institut-agro-rennes-angers.hal.science/hal-00729483; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2009.07.006

Estuaries are essential fish habitats because they provide nursery grounds for a number of marine species. Previous studies in the Bay of Vilaine (part of the Bay of Biscay, France) have underlined the estuarine dependence of juvenile common sole (Solea solea, L) and shown that the extent of sole nursery grounds was positively influenced by the variability of the river flow. In the present study, stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were used to describe the trophic network until the young-of-the-year sole and to compare interannual variations in the dominant trophic pathways in the sole nursery areas in this bay. Particulate organic matter (POM), sediment organic matter (SOM), microphytobenthos, benthic invertebrate sole prey and young-of-the-year common sole were collected during the summer over 4 years characterised by contrasting river discharges. POM isotopic signatures were used to identify the origins of nutrient and organic matter assimilated into the estuarine food web through benthic organisms to juvenile common sole. Interannual spatial variations were found in the POM carbon stable isotope signatures, with the importance of these variations depending on the interannual fluctuations of the river flow. Moreover, the spatio-temporal variability of this POM isotopic signature was propagated along the food webs up to juvenile sole, confirming the central role of river discharge and terrigeneous subsidy input in the estuarine benthic food web in determining the size of the sole nursery habitat. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.