Seasonal variation in carbon sources of ­mesograzers and small predators in an eelgrass community: stable isotope and fatty acid analyses

Jaschinski, Sybill; Brepohl, Daniela C.; Sommer, Ulrich

doi:10.3354/meps09143

Cited by 36 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(67 reference statements)

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“…Carbon isotope ratios of consumers indicated that the majority of consumers derived at least half of their carbon from seagrass, and that grazers consumed a combination of seagrass and epiphytes (Kharlamenko et al 2001). In a seagrass bed in the Baltic Sea, δ 13 C values of seagrass overlapped with those of epiphytes, but were distinct from those of sand microflora and a red macroalga (Jaschinski et al 2011). Because the level of the seagrass indicator FA 18:4n-3 was low in all consumers, seagrass was considered an unlikely food source and was removed from the SI mixing model.…”

Section: Bulk Si Analysis With Fa Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because FA tracers can be ambiguous with regard to a consumer's trophic level, nitrogen isotopes are a particularly valuable source of additional information in FA studies of food webs (Richoux & Froneman 2007, Guest et al 2010, Jaschinski et al 2011. The FA composition of the polychaete Perenereis nuntia vallata in a temperate estuary in South Africa contained high levels of PUFAs and diatom indicators, as well as elevated bacterial FA, which taken alone would likely indicate surface deposit feeding (Richoux & Froneman 2008).…”

Section: Bulk Si Analysis With Fa Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because the level of the seagrass indicator FA 18:4n-3 was low in all consumers, seagrass was considered an unlikely food source and was removed from the SI mixing model. Based on indicator FAs and SI data, diets of most mesograzers appeared to shift from epiphytes to sand microflora when epiphytes were scarce (Jaschinski et al 2011).…”

Section: Bulk Si Analysis With Fa Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ANOSIM is frequently used in conjunction with MDS, both for comparing a priori groups and for testing whether clusters observed in the MDS plot differ significantly from each other, and for performing pairwise comparisons among groups (Hughes et al 2005, Hall et al 2006, Kelly et al 2008, 2009, Wai et al 2008. The ANOSIM R statistic is a measure of similarity between groups on a scale of 0 to 1: values between 0.5 and 0.75 indicate that groups are different, but have some degree of overlap, while R > 0.75 indicates well-separated groups (e.g Jaschinski et al 2011). Large sample sizes in ANOSIM may result in significant p-values even when groups are not wellseparated, so the R-value should be reported.…”

Section: Multivariate Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fatty acids as dietary tracers in benthic food webs

Kelly¹,

Scheibling²

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

478

413

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Section: Bulk Si Analysis With Fa Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bulk Si Analysis With Fa Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bulk Si Analysis With Fa Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Multivariate Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Fatty acids as dietary tracers in benthic food webs

Kelly¹,

Scheibling²

2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

478

413

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“…Seagrass meadows support a wide array of trophic interactions between herbivores feeding on epiphytic and free-floating macroalgae, but also function as nursery and feeding grounds for ecologically and commercially important fish (40,51). In these vegetated sediment systems, benthic microalgae are an important food source for crustacean and gastropod herbivores, which in turn are eaten by fish and crustaceans (52). Through the production of oxygen via photosynthesis, microphytobenthos also "indirectly" control key biogeochemical processes in the sediment (53,54) and, in theory, could counteract effects of expected global warming by sustaining net benthic autotrophy (46).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumers mediate the effects of experimental ocean acidification and warming on primary producers

Alsterberg

Eklöf

Gamfeldt

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

147

132

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It is well known that ocean acidification can have profound impacts on marine organisms. However, we know little about the direct and indirect effects of ocean acidification and also how these effects interact with other features of environmental change such as warming and declining consumer pressure. In this study, we tested whether the presence of consumers (invertebrate mesograzers) influenced the interactive effects of ocean acidification and warming on benthic microalgae in a seagrass community mesocosm experiment. Net effects of acidification and warming on benthic microalgal biomass and production, as assessed by analysis of variance, were relatively weak regardless of grazer presence. However, partitioning these net effects into direct and indirect effects using structural equation modeling revealed several strong relationships. In the absence of grazers, benthic microalgae were negatively and indirectly affected by sediment-associated microalgal grazers and macroalgal shading, but directly and positively affected by acidification and warming. Combining indirect and direct effects yielded no or weak net effects. In the presence of grazers, almost all direct and indirect climate effects were nonsignificant. Our analyses highlight that (i) indirect effects of climate change may be at least as strong as direct effects, (ii) grazers are crucial in mediating these effects, and (iii) effects of ocean acidification may be apparent only through indirect effects and in combination with other variables (e. g., warming). These findings highlight the importance of experimental designs and statistical analyses that allow us to separate and quantify the direct and indirect effects of multiple climate variables on natural communities.food web | global warming | herbivory | species interaction | top-down

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Trophic transfer of polyunsaturated fatty acids across the aquatic–terrestrial interface: An experimental tritrophic food chain approach

Ohler

Schreiner

Martin‐Creuzburg

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Aquatic and their adjacent terrestrial ecosystems are linked via the flux of organic and inorganic matter. Emergent aquatic insects are recognized as high-quality food for terrestrial predators, because they provide more physiologically relevant long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) than terrestrial insects. The effects of dietary PUFA on terrestrial predators have been explored mainly in feeding trials conducted under controlled laboratory conditions, hampering the assessment of the ecological relevance of dietary PUFA deficiencies under field conditions. We assessed the PUFA transfer across the aquatic-terrestrial interface and the consequences for terrestrial riparian predators in two outdoor microcosm experiments. We established simplified tritrophic food chains, consisting of one of four basic food sources, an intermediary collector gatherer (Chironomus riparius, Chironomidae), and a riparian web-building spider (Tetragnatha sp.). The four basic food sources (algae, conditioned leaves, oatmeal, and fish food) differed in PUFA profiles and were used to track the trophic transfer of single PUFA along the food chain and to assess their potential effects on spiders, that is, on fresh weight, body condition (size-controlled measurement of nutritional status), and immune response. The PUFA profiles of the basic food sources, C. riparius and spiders differed between treatments, except for spiders in the second experiment. The PUFA α-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3) and ɣ-linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3n-6) were major contributors to the differences between treatments. PUFA profiles of the basic food sources influenced the fresh weight and body condition of spiders in the first experiment, but not in the second experiment, and did not affect the immune response, growth rate, and dry weight in both experiments. Furthermore, our results indicate that the examined responses are dependent on temperature. Future studies including anthropogenic stressors would deepen our understanding of the transfer and role of PUFA in ecosystems.

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Seasonal variation in carbon sources of mesograzers and small predators in an eelgrass community: stable isotope and fatty acid analyses

Cited by 36 publications

References 49 publications

Fatty acids as dietary tracers in benthic food webs

Fatty acids as dietary tracers in benthic food webs

Consumers mediate the effects of experimental ocean acidification and warming on primary producers

Trophic transfer of polyunsaturated fatty acids across the aquatic–terrestrial interface: An experimental tritrophic food chain approach

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Seasonal variation in carbon sources of ­mesograzers and small predators in an eelgrass community: stable isotope and fatty acid analyses

Cited by 36 publications

References 49 publications

Fatty acids as dietary tracers in benthic food webs

Fatty acids as dietary tracers in benthic food webs

Consumers mediate the effects of experimental ocean acidification and warming on primary producers

Trophic transfer of polyunsaturated fatty acids across the aquatic–terrestrial interface: An experimental tritrophic food chain approach

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Seasonal variation in carbon sources of mesograzers and small predators in an eelgrass community: stable isotope and fatty acid analyses