scholarly journals Offshore pelagic subsidies dominate carbon inputs to coral reef predators

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. eabf3792
Author(s):  
C. Skinner ◽  
A. C. Mill ◽  
M. D. Fox ◽  
S. P. Newman ◽  
Y. Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Hot Spots ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Essential Amino Acids ◽  
Ocean Productivity ◽  
Analytical Power ◽  
Carbon Pathways

Coral reefs were traditionally perceived as productive hot spots in oligotrophic waters. While modern evidence indicates that many coral reef food webs are heavily subsidized by planktonic production, the pathways through which this occurs remain unresolved. We used the analytical power of carbon isotope analysis of essential amino acids to distinguish between alternative carbon pathways supporting four key reef predators across an oceanic atoll. This technique separates benthic versus planktonic inputs, further identifying two distinct planktonic pathways (nearshore reef-associated plankton and offshore pelagic plankton), and revealing that these reef predators are overwhelmingly sustained by offshore pelagic sources rather than by reef sources (including reef-associated plankton). Notably, pelagic reliance did not vary between species or reef habitats, emphasizing that allochthonous energetic subsidies may have system-wide importance. These results help explain how coral reefs maintain exceptional productivity in apparently nutrient-poor tropical settings, but also emphasize their susceptibility to future ocean productivity fluctuations.

scholarly journals Stable nitrogen isotope analysis of amino acids as a new tool to clarify complex parasite–host interactions within food webs

Oikos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip M. Riekenberg ◽  
Tijs Joling ◽  
Lonneke L. IJsseldijk ◽  
Andreas M. Waser ◽  
Marcel T. J. van der Meer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Nitrogen Isotope ◽  
Stable Nitrogen Isotope ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Nitrogen Isotope Analysis

scholarly journals Diversitas Echinodermata di Pantai Meras Kecamatan Bunaken Sulawesi Utara (Diversity of Echinoderms on the Meras Beach, Bunaken District, North Sulawesi)

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Billy R Rompis ◽  
Marnix LD Langoy ◽  
Deidy Y Katili ◽  
Adelfia Papu
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Diversity Index ◽  
North Sulawesi ◽  
Wiener Diversity Index ◽  
Sea Grass ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems ◽  
Line Transects ◽  
Total Species

Abstrak Echinodermata berperan penting pada ekosistem terumbu karang sebagai bagian dari jejaring makanan. Mereka dapat bersifat herbivora, karnivora, dan/atau omnivora. Kerusakan terumbu karang di Pantai Meras akhir-akhir ini dapat mengancam Echinodermata. Informasi tentang diversitas Echinodermata di Pantai Meras masih sedikit. Oleh karena itu, penelitian tentang diversitas Echinodermata perlu dilakukan di Pantai Meras, Kecamatan Bunaken, Sulawesi Utara. Pengambilan sampel pada tiap lokasi dilakukan pada saat surut terendah dengan menarik 3 garis transek (masing-masing 100 meter) secara vertikal dari garis pantai ke arah laut. Petak kuadrat (1 x 1 meter) diletakkan dengan jarak antar kuadrat yaitu 10 meter. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Echinodermata hidup pada habitat padang lamun, pasir dan terumbu karang baik yang hidup maupun mati. Total species yang ditemukan yaitu 8 spesies yang termasuk anggota dari 3 kelas. Kelas Asteroidea (bintang laut) sebanyak 3 spesies, Echinoidea sebanyak 4 spesies dan Kelas Holothuroidea sebanyak 1 spesies. Diversitas Echinodermata di Pantai Meras adalah antara rendah hingga sedang dengan nilai indeks diversitas Shannon-Wiener (H’) berkisar antara 0,48 – 1,31. Kata kunci: Diversitas Echinodermata, Pantai Meras, Sulawesi Utara Abstract Echinoderms have important role in coral reef ecosystems as part of the food webs. They may be herbivores, carnivores, and/or omnivores. Coral reefs destruction in Meras Beach lately can threaten Echinoderms. There was little information about Echinoderms diversity of Meras Beach. Therefore, research on Echinoderms diversity needs to be done on the Meras Beach, Bunaken District, North Sulawesi. Sampling was carried out at each location at the lowest tide. There were 3 line transects (each 100 meters) located vertically from the shoreline towards the sea. The square plots (1 x 1 meter) placed distance between plots was 10 meters. The results showed that Echinoderms occupied different habitat i.e. sea grass, sand, live and/or coral reefs. Total species found 8 species belong to members of the 3 classes. Asteroidea Class (starfish),  Echinoidea Class and Holothuroidea were respectively 3 species, 4 species and 1 species. Echinoderms diversity on the Meras Beach were low to moderate with Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H ') was 0.48 to 1.31. Keywords: Echinodermata diversity, Meras Beach, North Sulawesi Rompis dkk., Distribusi Echinodermata …. 27PENDAHULUAN

scholarly journals Trophic hierarchy of coastal marine fish communities viewed via compound-specific isotope analysis of amino acids

2020 ◽  
Vol 652 ◽  
pp. 137-144
Author(s):  
D Xing ◽  
B Choi ◽  
Y Takizawa ◽  
R Fan ◽  
S Sugaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Migratory Species ◽  
Sagami Bay ◽  
Compound Specific Isotope Analysis ◽  
Coastal Marine ◽  
Coastal Species ◽  
Isotopic Baseline

Coastal marine ecosystems are very complex and composed of myriad organisms, including offshore, coastal, and migratory fish occupying diverse trophic positions (TPs) in food webs. The illustration of trophic hierarchy based on the TP and resource utilization of individual organisms remains challenging. In this study, we applied compound-specific isotope analysis of amino acids to estimate the TP and isotopic baseline (i.e. δ15N values of primary resources at the base of food webs) for 13 fish and 1 squid species in a coastal area of Sagami Bay, Japan, where a large diversity in the isotopic baseline is caused by an admixture of ocean currents and artificial nitrogen inputs. Our results indicate that the TP of fish and squid varies between 2.9 and 3.9 (i.e. omnivorous, carnivorous, and tertiary consumers), with low variation within individual species. Moreover, the δ15N values of phenylalanine revealed the diversity of isotopic baselines between and within species. Low values (7.8-10.3‰) and high values (18.6-19.2‰), with a small variation (1σ < 1.0‰), were found in 2 offshore species and 3 coastal species, respectively. In contrast, highly variable values (9.8-19.7‰), with large variation within species (1σ > 1.0‰), were found for the remaining 9 migratory species. These results represent evidence of differential trophic exploitation of habitats between offshore and coastal species, particularly among individuals of migratory species, that were all collected in a single area of Sagami Bay.

scholarly journals Stable nitrogen isotope analysis of amino acids as a new tool to clarify complex parasite-host interactions within marine food webs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Riekenberg ◽  
Tijs Joling ◽  
Lonneke L. IJsseldijk ◽  
Andreas M. Waser ◽  
Marcel van der Meer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Trophic Interactions ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Parasitic Interactions

AbstractTraditional bulk isotopic analysis is a pivotal tool for mapping consumer-resource interactions in food webs but has largely failed to adequately describe parasite-host relationships. Thus, parasite-host interactions remain largely understudied in food web frameworks despite these relationships increasing linkage density, connectance, and ecosystem biomass. Compound-specific stable isotopes from amino acids provides a promising novel approach that may aid in mapping parasitic interactions in food webs. However, to date it has not been applied to parasitic trophic interactions.Here we use a combination of traditional bulk stable isotope analyses and compound-specific isotopic analysis of the nitrogen in amino acids to examine resource use and trophic interactions of five parasites from three hosts from a marine coastal food web (Wadden Sea, European Atlantic). By comparing isotopic compositions of bulk and amino acid nitrogen, we aimed to characterize isotopic fractionation occurring between parasites and their hosts and to clarify the trophic position of the parasites.Our results showed that parasitic trophic interactions were more accurately identified when using compound-specific stable isotope analysis due to removal of underlying source isotopic variation for both parasites and hosts, and avoidance of the averaging of amino acid variability in bulk analyses through use of multiple trophic amino acids. The compound-specific method provided clear trophic discrimination factors in comparison to bulk isotope methods, however, those differences varied significantly among parasite species.Amino acid compound specific isotope analysis has widely been applied to examine trophic position within food webs, but our analyses suggest that the method is particularly useful for clarifying the feeding strategies for parasitic species. Baseline isotopic information provided by source amino acids allows clear identification of the fractionation occurring due to parasite metabolism by integrating underlying isotopic variations from the host tissues. However, like for bulk isotope analysis, the application of a universal trophic discrimination factor to parasite-host relationships remains inappropriate for compound-specific stable isotope analysis. Despite this limitation, compound-specific stable isotope analysis is and will continue to be a valuable tool to increase our understanding of parasitic interactions in marine food webs.

Compound‐specific isotope analysis of amino acids as a new tool to uncover trophic chains in soil food webs

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie M. Pollierer ◽  
Thomas Larsen ◽  
Anton Potapov ◽  
Adrian Brückner ◽  
Michael Heethoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Soil Food Webs ◽  
Compound Specific Isotope Analysis ◽  
Trophic Chains

scholarly journals Essential amino acid provisioning by termite-associated gut microbiota

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A Ayayee ◽  
Susan C Jones ◽  
Zakee L Sabree
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Essential Amino Acid ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Essential Amino Acids ◽  
Reticulitermes Flavipes ◽  
Subterranean Termite ◽  
Termite Gut ◽  
Eastern Subterranean Termite ◽  
Assimilable Nitrogen

Gut-associated microbes of many insects provide a variety of beneficial nutritive functions to their hosts such as the provisioning of essential amino acids (EAAs) to those that feed on diets limited in assimilable nitrogen (i.e., wood). We investigated this function by the gut microbiota of the eastern subterranean termite (Reticulitermes flavipes) using 13C-stable isotope analysis of EAAs in the diet and termite samples. Evidence of possible microbe input was revealed by 13C-depletion of termite carcass (-27.0 ± 0.43‰, mean ± s.e.), and termite gut filtrate samples (-27.3 ± 0.58‰) relative to their wood diet (-26.0 ± 0.48‰) (F (2, 63) = 6.2, P < 0.004). An investigation of the identity of non-dietary EAA sources determined that termites predominantly incorporated EAAs derived from bacteria, with minor fungal input. The most likely means of EAA acquisition is through proctodeal trophallaxis (mouth-anus feeding), a well-established feature of termite colony nestmates, and subsequent digestion of the microbial fraction in the transferred food. Our study provides empirical data in support of the gut microbial EAA provisioning function in termites by using 13C-stable isotopes to determine the microbial origins of incorporated EAAs in termite tissues.

scholarly journals Stable isotope analyses of feather amino acids identify penguin migration strategies at ocean basin scales

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 20170241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Polito ◽  
Jefferson T. Hinke ◽  
Tom Hart ◽  
Mercedes Santos ◽  
Leah A. Houghton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotope ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Essential Amino Acids ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Marine Predators ◽  
Migration Strategies ◽  
Direct Tracking ◽  
Tracking Devices

Identifying the at-sea distribution of wide-ranging marine predators is critical to understanding their ecology. Advances in electronic tracking devices and intrinsic biogeochemical markers have greatly improved our ability to track animal movements on ocean-wide scales. Here, we show that, in combination with direct tracking, stable carbon isotope analysis of essential amino acids in tail feathers provides the ability to track the movement patterns of two, wide-ranging penguin species over ocean basin scales. In addition, we use this isotopic approach across multiple breeding colonies in the Scotia Arc to evaluate migration trends at a regional scale that would be logistically challenging using direct tracking alone.

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