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Analysis of a Lake Superior coastal food web with stable isotope techniques
Author(s) -
Keough Janet R.,
Sierszen Michael E.,
Hagley Cynthia A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1996.41.1.0136
Subject(s) - food web , trophic level , isotopic signature , environmental science , wetland , food chain , isotope analysis , δ15n , microbial food web , phytoplankton , ecology , isotopes of carbon , stable isotope ratio , fishery , oceanography , δ13c , biology , total organic carbon , nutrient , geology , physics , quantum mechanics
Food‐web components of a Lake Superior coastal wetland and adjacent offshore waters were examined with stable isotope ratiotechniques for carbon and nitrogen. We found distinct carbon isotope ratio signatures for organisms collected in the wetland and from offshore. Both food‐web groups seemed to be based on carbon fixed by phytoplankton. Compared to offshore organisms, the wetland food web was depleted in 13 C. We found the nitrogen isotope ratio signatures to be enriched in 15 N by ~3‰ at each succeeding trophic level in both wetland and lake samples. No evidence of a direct energy link between the abundant macrophyte biomass in the wetland and the fisheries food web was found. The carbon ratio of rainbow smelt ( Osmerus mordax ) and walleye ( Stizostedion vitreum ) exhibited a shift from a wetland signature in young‐of‐the‐year to an offshore signature in juveniles and adults. Yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ) young‐of‐the‐year exhibited a planktivorous δ 15 N signature, while adults were enriched in 15 N. Both examples illustrate the utility of stable isotope ratio techniques in confirming feeding shifts associated with growth and habitat change.