Use of stable carbon isotope ratios to compare plant material and potential consumers in a seagrass bed and a kelp bed in Nova Scotia, Canada

Stephenson, RL; Tan, F. C.; Mann, KH

doi:10.3354/meps030001

Cited by 72 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The ingestion of macroalgal dissolved organic matter aggregates and associated bacteria (such as in the scallop Argopecten irradians, see Alber & Valiela 1995) could explain the depleted 8 13 C (characteristic of the macroalgal substrate) and 8 34 S (from bacterial sulphide production) signatures of A. stutchburyi. No suspension-feeding bivalve has yet been shown to ingest seagrass material in the field (Stephenson et al 1986;Kang 1999;Kharlamenko et al 2001), which reinforces the notion that seagrass material becomes available to consumers (e.g., grazers and deposit feeders) through its presence as detritus in the sediments (Vizzini et al 2002b). Amongst the invertebrates considered in this study, ingestion of live Z. capricorni tissue has only been documented for the crab M. hirtipes (Woods & Schiel 1997).…”

Section: Nosupporting

confidence: 51%

“…Seagrasses have been found to make little or no contribution to the diet of macroinvertebrates in several studies (Kitting et al 1984;Stephenson et al 1986;Lepoint et al 2000;Machas et al 2003), whereas others demonstrated the importance of seagrass production for the diet of a variety of invertebrates living within seagrass meadows (Boon et al 1997;Loneragan 1997;Marguillier et al 1997;Kharlamenko et al 2001;Vizzini et al 2002a,b;Connolly et al 2005a) or in adjacent areas (Connolly et al 2005b). Little is known about possible seasonal changes in the importance of seagrass to the diet of consumers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Macroinvertebrate diet in intertidal seagrass and sandflat communities: A study using C, N, and S stable isotopes

Leduc¹,

Probert²,

Frew³

et al. 2006

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Most seagrass community food-web studies using stable isotopes have been carried out in subtidal habitats during one sampling event. We used C, N, and S stable isotopes to characterise the diet of the dominant macroinvertebrates found in intertidal Zostera capricorni and sandflat communities of southern New Zealand in late summer and winter. The range of δ 13 C and δ 34 S values for Z. capricorni was wide (>5‰), which highlights the importance of accounting for spatial and temporal variability in primary producer isotopic signatures. The range of δ 15 N values for Z. capricorni was comparatively small (

show abstract

Section: Nosupporting

confidence: 51%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroinvertebrate diet in intertidal seagrass and sandflat communities: A study using C, N, and S stable isotopes

Leduc¹,

Probert²,

Frew³

et al. 2006

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Stable isotopes (C, N, S) have been largely used to assess seagrass food webs in temperate meadows (e.g. Kharlamenko et al, 2001;Stephenson et al, 1986), in Mediterranean meadows (e.g. Dauby, 1989;Jennings et al, 1997;Lepoint et al, 2000;Pinnegar and Polunin, 2000;, and in subtropical and tropical meadows (e.g.…”

Section: Food Web Integratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of C and N stable isotopes to ecological and environmental studies in seagrass ecosystems

Lepoint

Dauby

Gobert

2004

Marine Pollution Bulletin

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen are increasingly used in marine ecosystems, for ecological and environmental studies. Here, we examine some applications of stable isotopes as ecological integrators or tracers in seagrass ecosystem studies. We focus on both the use of natural isotope abundance as food web integrators or environmental tracers and on the use of stable isotopes as experimental tools. As ecosystem integrators, stable isotopes have helped to elucidate the general structure of trophic webs in temperate, Mediterranean and tropical seagrass ecosystems. As environmental tracers, stable isotopes have proven their utility in sewage impact measuring and mapping. However, to make such environmental studies more comprehensible, future works on understanding of basic reasons for variations of N and C stable isotopes in seagrasses should be encouraged. At least, as experimental tracers, stable isotopes allow the study of many aspects of N and C cycles at the scale of a plant or at the scale of the seagrass ecosystem.

show abstract

“…We sampled kelp from both exposed and protected sites, given that water turbulence is reported to affect carbon ratios in kelp (Simenstad et al 1993). We ground up whole kelp fronds and then took a subsample to minimize error due to possible variation in isotopic ratios in different portions of fronds (Stephenson et al 1984). We assumed that kelp detritus had the same isotopic ratios as fresh kelp plants (Stephenson et al 1986).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotopes in subtidal food webs: Have enriched carbon ratios in benthic consumers been misinterpreted?

Nadon

Himmelman

2006

Limnology & Oceanography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We examined the hypothesis that the d 13 C of benthic consumers is depleted in offshore, deeper waters where kelp and benthic microalgae are absent by conducting three analyses: (1) we analyzed d 13 C (and d 15 N) of consumers along a nearshore-offshore gradient in the field, (2) we analyzed d 13 C (and d 15 N) of consumers placed in cages at various depths and distances from shore, and (3) we reexamined published stable isotope values for consumers taken at various depths from studies around the world. In all three situations, we did not observe the predicted change in d 13 C values of benthic consumers. In both the literature and in our field measurements, the d 13 C values for consumers were on average separated from the values for suspended particulate organic matter by 4%, irrespective of depth, indicating that factors other than the feeding on 13 C-rich benthic primary producers may explain the enriched carbon ratios in benthic consumers (e.g., selective feeding on enriched particles). The hypothesis that the high d 13 C ratio in suspension and deposit feeders reflects feeding on benthic primary producers is thus tenuous and requires further investigation.

show abstract

Use of stable carbon isotope ratios to compare plant material and potential consumers in a seagrass bed and a kelp bed in Nova Scotia, Canada

Cited by 72 publications

References 16 publications

Macroinvertebrate diet in intertidal seagrass and sandflat communities: A study using C, N, and S stable isotopes

Macroinvertebrate diet in intertidal seagrass and sandflat communities: A study using C, N, and S stable isotopes

Applications of C and N stable isotopes to ecological and environmental studies in seagrass ecosystems

Stable isotopes in subtidal food webs: Have enriched carbon ratios in benthic consumers been misinterpreted?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About