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Using the δ 13 C and δ 15 N of whitefish scales for retrospective ecological studies: changes in isotope signatures during the restoration of Lake Geneva, 1980–2001
Author(s) -
Perga M. E.,
Gerdeaux D.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1046/j.1095-8649.2003.00239.x
Subject(s) - trophic level , coregonus lavaretus , stable isotope ratio , isotope , fish <actinopterygii> , dorsum , environmental science , abundance (ecology) , ecology , chemistry , biology , fishery , anatomy , physics , nuclear physics
The scales of whitefish Coregonus lavaretus were used in place of dorsal muscle, which necessitates killing the fish, to study food webs from the δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotopic ratios in the organic fraction. As scales are composed of both organic and calcified fractions, a protocol for scale decalcification was first devised. The δ 13 C and δ 15 N values of the decalcified scales were then shown to be closely correlated to those of the dorsal muscle, demonstrating that scales could be used in place of muscle to study food webs. Changes in the δ 13 C of whitefish were determined from a scale collection that extended over the period during which the trophic state of Lake Geneva was recovering.