Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs
Tracing the flow of dietary energy sources, especially in systems with a high degree of omnivory, is an ongoing challenge in ecology. In aquatic systems, one of the persistent challenges is in differentiating between autochthonous and allochthonous energy sources to top consumers. Bulk carbon stable...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Western CEDAR
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://cedar.wwu.edu/esci_facpubs/63 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=esci_facpubs |
id |
ftwestwashington:oai:cedar.wwu.edu:esci_facpubs-1062 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftwestwashington:oai:cedar.wwu.edu:esci_facpubs-1062 2023-05-15T14:59:59+02:00 Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs Chiapella, Ariana M. Kainz, Martin J. Strecker, Angela 2021-02-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://cedar.wwu.edu/esci_facpubs/63 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=esci_facpubs English eng Western CEDAR https://cedar.wwu.edu/esci_facpubs/63 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=esci_facpubs Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications allochthonous subsidies Arctic Char compound-specific stable isotopes diet tracing energy flow fatty acids lake mesocosms trophic ecology Aquaculture and Fisheries Environmental Sciences Fresh Water Studies Life Sciences text 2021 ftwestwashington 2022-09-14T06:05:36Z Tracing the flow of dietary energy sources, especially in systems with a high degree of omnivory, is an ongoing challenge in ecology. In aquatic systems, one of the persistent challenges is in differentiating between autochthonous and allochthonous energy sources to top consumers. Bulk carbon stable isotope values of aquatic and terrestrial prey often overlap, making it difficult to delineate dietary energy pathways in food webs with high allochthonous prey subsidies, such as in many northern temperate waterbodies. We conducted a feeding experiment to explore how fatty acid stable isotopes may overcome the challenge of partitioning autochthonous and allochthonous energy pathways in aquatic consumers. We fed hatchery-reared Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus) diets of either benthic invertebrates, terrestrial earthworms, or a mixture of both. We then compared how the stable carbon isotopes of fatty acids (δ13CFA) distinguished between diet items and respective treatments in S. alpinus liver and muscle tissues, relative to bulk stable isotopes and fatty acid profiles. Although a high degree of variability of fatty acid stable carbon isotope values was present in all three measures, our results suggest that the ability of this method to overcome the challenges of bulk stable isotopes may be overstated. Finally, our study highlights the importance of further experimental investigation, and consideration of physiological and biochemical processes when employing this emerging method. Text Arctic Salvelinus alpinus Western Washington University: CEDAR (Contributing to Education through Digital Access to Research) Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Western Washington University: CEDAR (Contributing to Education through Digital Access to Research) |
op_collection_id |
ftwestwashington |
language |
English |
topic |
allochthonous subsidies Arctic Char compound-specific stable isotopes diet tracing energy flow fatty acids lake mesocosms trophic ecology Aquaculture and Fisheries Environmental Sciences Fresh Water Studies Life Sciences |
spellingShingle |
allochthonous subsidies Arctic Char compound-specific stable isotopes diet tracing energy flow fatty acids lake mesocosms trophic ecology Aquaculture and Fisheries Environmental Sciences Fresh Water Studies Life Sciences Chiapella, Ariana M. Kainz, Martin J. Strecker, Angela Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
topic_facet |
allochthonous subsidies Arctic Char compound-specific stable isotopes diet tracing energy flow fatty acids lake mesocosms trophic ecology Aquaculture and Fisheries Environmental Sciences Fresh Water Studies Life Sciences |
description |
Tracing the flow of dietary energy sources, especially in systems with a high degree of omnivory, is an ongoing challenge in ecology. In aquatic systems, one of the persistent challenges is in differentiating between autochthonous and allochthonous energy sources to top consumers. Bulk carbon stable isotope values of aquatic and terrestrial prey often overlap, making it difficult to delineate dietary energy pathways in food webs with high allochthonous prey subsidies, such as in many northern temperate waterbodies. We conducted a feeding experiment to explore how fatty acid stable isotopes may overcome the challenge of partitioning autochthonous and allochthonous energy pathways in aquatic consumers. We fed hatchery-reared Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus) diets of either benthic invertebrates, terrestrial earthworms, or a mixture of both. We then compared how the stable carbon isotopes of fatty acids (δ13CFA) distinguished between diet items and respective treatments in S. alpinus liver and muscle tissues, relative to bulk stable isotopes and fatty acid profiles. Although a high degree of variability of fatty acid stable carbon isotope values was present in all three measures, our results suggest that the ability of this method to overcome the challenges of bulk stable isotopes may be overstated. Finally, our study highlights the importance of further experimental investigation, and consideration of physiological and biochemical processes when employing this emerging method. |
format |
Text |
author |
Chiapella, Ariana M. Kainz, Martin J. Strecker, Angela |
author_facet |
Chiapella, Ariana M. Kainz, Martin J. Strecker, Angela |
author_sort |
Chiapella, Ariana M. |
title |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_short |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_full |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_fullStr |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
title_sort |
fatty acid stable isotopes add clarity, but also complexity, to tracing energy pathways in aquatic food webs |
publisher |
Western CEDAR |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://cedar.wwu.edu/esci_facpubs/63 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=esci_facpubs |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Salvelinus alpinus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Salvelinus alpinus |
op_source |
Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications |
op_relation |
https://cedar.wwu.edu/esci_facpubs/63 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1062&context=esci_facpubs |
op_rights |
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766332097270644736 |