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Isotopic variability in a stream longitudinal gradient: implications for trophic ecology

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Abstract

Stable isotope analysis (SIA) constitutes a powerful tool for evaluating trophic ecology. However, natural spatio-temporal isotopic variability may complicate the application of this approach in rivers. In this study, we analysed different sources of variability and potential limitations in the use of SIA along the Tea Stream (NW Iberian Peninsula). Gut content analyses (GCA), δ13C and δ15N ratios for major food web components were evaluated in replicate samples collected at six sites along the mid-downstream gradient of the stream in 2010, 2006 and 2007. In this study, we tested (1) isotopic changes on each basal resource and consumer across sites (spatial variability), (2) specific isotopic patterns on the different food web components within each studied site (within-site variability), (3) isotopic consistency through years (temporal variability), and (4) isotopic differences due to fish size (ontogenetic variability). We found higher variability for δ13C than for δ15N ratios in major food web components along the studied gradient. Additionally, autochthonous basal sources exhibited higher variability than allochthonous ones. A clear decreasing pattern in the δ13C ratios of biofilm was observed towards the stream mouth, which was also reflected in both primary and secondary consumers. The high parallelism between biofilm isotopic patterns and those of higher trophic levels stress the importance of exploring the relevance of this resource fuelling food webs along the Tea Stream. Moreover, the importance of combining GCA and SIA was confirmed, allowing a better interpretation of fish trophic interactions in the stream. Our results proved that a site-specific study perspective (considering longitudinal variability) would be more appropriate when evaluating food web issues in greater detail for the Tea Stream.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank to M. Dominguez, L. García and C. Delgado for the intense days they spent helping during field surveys. We are especially grateful to F. Hervella for his material and personal support, on bureaucratic procedures and when carrying out electrofishing surveys in 2010. We are also very grateful to M. Brauns, who provided useful comments that contributed to improve this manuscript. Financial support to NC were provided by a predoctoral grant (Xunta de Galicia, Programa de Recursos Humanos do Plan Galego de Investigación, Desenvolvemento e Innovación Tecnolóxica-Incite, Programa María Barbeito). This study was supported by the Galician government (Consellería de Medio Ambiente, Xunta de Galicia) as a part of the project V516 122D 6450211.

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  1. Departamento de Ecología y Biología Animal, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310, Vigo, Spain

    Noemi Costas & Isabel Pardo

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  1. Noemi Costas
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  2. Isabel Pardo
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Correspondence to Noemi Costas.

Appendixes

Appendixes

See Tables 7, 8, 9.

Table 7 ANOVA results evaluating inter-site isotopic differences for the different food web components collected along the Tea Stream
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Table 8 Index of relative importance (%IRI) of those prey taxa consumed by all the fish species captured in the study reaches of the Tea Stream
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Table 9 Results of SIAR. analyses for those consumers (A = Primary consumers, B = Omnivorous fish, C = Predatory fish) comprised by their possible food sources at each site. Mean contribution to consumer’s diet and the range of contributions (in brackets) are shown for each food resource considered in each mixing model
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Costas, N., Pardo, I. Isotopic variability in a stream longitudinal gradient: implications for trophic ecology. Aquat Sci 77, 231–260 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-014-0383-2

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