Carbon Sources Supporting Large River Food Webs: A Review of Ecological Theories and Evidence from Stable Isotopes

Pingram, Michael A.; Collier, Kevin J.; Hamilton, David P.; David, Bruno; Hicks, Brendan J.

doi:10.1608/frj-5.2.476

Cited by 44 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…For example, in the Southern Hemisphere, juveniles of the most abundant and widely distributed galaxiid fish – īnanga, Galaxias maculatus – grow faster when feeding on large‐bodied cladocerans and copepods (Modenutti, Balseiro & Cervellini, ; Barriga et al ., ). Both algal and terrestrial carbon sources are important sources of energy supporting consumer biomass in large rivers (Pingram et al ., ), including the Waikato River (Pingram et al ., ). Therefore, as a preferred food for larval and juvenile fish, zooplankton constitute an important trophic linkage from these carbon sources to higher levels of the aquatic food chain (Lindholm & Hessen, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Connectivity and complexity of floodplain habitats govern zooplankton dynamics in a large temperate river system

et al. 2013

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Summary Large river–floodplain systems are characterised by seasonal flow variability. High flows lead to hydrological connection between the main channel and inundated off‐channel lakes, wetlands and floodplains, which provide essential habitats for riverine biota. We tested the following hypotheses: (i) that crustacean zooplankton are more abundant in connected lentic habitats such as riverine lakes and wetlands and have a different community composition compared with the main channel and (ii) that vegetation structure will moderate abundances of crustacean zooplankton in the lower reaches of the Waikato River, New Zealand. Zooplankton densities in main channel inflows and inundated floodplains showed clear seasonal changes, with cladoceran and copepod abundance peaks occurring in the majority of sites 2–3 weeks following the peak spring discharges (coinciding with the retreat of water from floodplains into the main channel). Mean densities of zooplankton were highest in the inflows originating from riverine lakes (10–20 ind. L−1) where rotifers were dominant. We recorded significantly higher abundances of copepods in peat bog and swamp wetland inflows (c. 5 ind. L−1) relative to the main river channel and riverine lake inflows (0.1–1 ind. L−1). Some lake inflows also had high numbers of cladocerans (5–10 ind. L−1). Inundated floodplains displayed heterogeneity in zooplankton community composition in relation to their structural complexity. Flooded forest accommodated higher numbers of copepods (c. 8 ind. L−1) and cladocerans (c. 17 ind. L−1) than flooded grassland, where zooplankton assemblages resembled those in the main river channel and were characterised by dominance of rotifers and low overall zooplankton densities (1–2 ind. L−1). Our results suggest that seasonal flow and flood pulses, which determine the degree of connectivity of the main channel with the floodplain and off‐channel habitats, govern zooplankton densities and community structure in this large temperate river. Furthermore, the structural complexity of floodplain habitats may play an important role in enhancing riverine zooplankton diversity. We postulate that the post‐flood peak of large‐bodied cladocerans and copepods might have historically played an important role in the provision of food for juvenile fish such as migrating Galaxiidae.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Connectivity and complexity of floodplain habitats govern zooplankton dynamics in a large temperate river system

et al. 2013

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“…Determining the origin and significance of particulate organic matter (POM) that fuels benthic food webs remains a central challenge of ecological research in freshwater ecosystems (Benke & Wallace, 1997;Pingram et al, 2012). In general, POM may either originate from autochthonous primary production and enters benthic food webs via the invertebrate grazer pathway or may be of terrestrially derived, allochthonous origin and is primarily used by invertebrate shredders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic matter resources fuelling food webs in a human-modified lowland river: importance of habitat and season

et al. 2019

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The role of hydromorphological degradation and temporal variation for food webs in humanmodified rivers is still not fully evaluated. We tested the hypothesis that man-made engineering structures alter macroinvertebrate resource use in the Elbe River (Germany) in relation to seasonal variation. Stable isotopes (d 13 C, d 15 N) and mixing models revealed that dietary contributions of benthic organic matter (BOM) and phytoplankton were driven by engineering structure. Contributions of biofilm were driven by season, while contributions of terrestrial particulate organic matter (t-POM) were driven by both engineering structure and season. Contributions of t-POM were larger than those of phytoplankton in spring and summer, but not in autumn, which adds to the debate about the sources of organic matter fuelling riverine benthic food webs. Resource availability was not systematically related to resource use, indicating that factors other than resource limitation were responsible for the observed results. By demonstrating that human alterations determine consumer resource use independently from resource availability, our study links hydromorphological modifications to fluxes of matter in riverine food webs. Future studies should quantify organic matter fluxes from various autochthonous and allochthonous pathways in human-modified and natural rivers to allow for a robust synthesis of how hydromorphological modifications alter benthic food webs. Keywords Elbe River Á Food web Á Stable isotopes Á Mixing model Á Non-native species Á River engineering Handling editor: María del Mar Sánchez-Montoya

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“…The sources and transport of carbon and energy in large river ecosystems have been conceptualized as several theoretical concepts, including the river continuum concept (RCC) [1], the flood pulse concept (FPC) [2] and the riverine productivity model (RPM) [3]. Each conceptual model has stressed the importance of organic matter originating from autochthonous or allochthonous sources [4]; such as the RCC stressing subsidy from upstream processing of terrestrial organic matter [1], the FPC emphasizing lateral river floodplain exchanges [2], and the RPM highlighting carbon derived from local in-stream production [5][6][7]. Owing to the hydrogeomorphic diversity among or within large river systems however, a single conceptual model of carbon dynamics is unlikely to apply to…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable Isotope Analysis Reveals the Importance of Riparian Resources as Carbon Subsidies for Fish Species in the Daning River, a Tributary of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China

Deng

Liu

et al. 2018

Water

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The patterns of carbon flow in large rivers influenced by dams are still not well known. We hypothesized that spatial variation in fish assimilation of basal production sources would be affected by heterogeneity of landscape-scale hydrology within a watershed due to the impoundment. We used stable isotope analysis and Bayesian mixing models to estimate relative contributions of basal production sources to fish consumers in a tributary of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) with remarkably heterogeneous habitats between the upper and lower reaches. Model estimates indicated that riparian C 3 plants were the main basal food source irrespective of reaches or feeding groups. Autochthonous algae carbon also appeared to be important as secondary carbon sources. However, the major contributive aquatic algae in the upstream were benthic algae while planktonic algae were important in the downstream, and this difference was related to their distinct hydrological characteristics. The contribution from C 4 plants was comparatively less important to all fish consumers. Our results highlighted the significance of the riparian C 3 carbon source to fish consumers in the TGR tributary and that the difference in landscape-scale characteristics was not enough to influence the pattern, which may be attributed to abundant standing stock of the riparian plants as well as hydrologic regimes in this river.

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Carbon Sources Supporting Large River Food Webs: A Review of Ecological Theories and Evidence from Stable Isotopes

Cited by 44 publications

References 95 publications

Connectivity and complexity of floodplain habitats govern zooplankton dynamics in a large temperate river system

Connectivity and complexity of floodplain habitats govern zooplankton dynamics in a large temperate river system

Organic matter resources fuelling food webs in a human-modified lowland river: importance of habitat and season

Stable Isotope Analysis Reveals the Importance of Riparian Resources as Carbon Subsidies for Fish Species in the Daning River, a Tributary of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China

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