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The Comparison of δ13C Values of a Deposit- and a Suspension-Feeder Bio-Indicates Benthic vs. Pelagic Couplings and Trophic Status in Contrasted Coastal Ecosystems

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Abstract

δ13C and δ15N values of two generalists primary consumers, a strict deposit-feeder polychaete (Arenicola marina), and a strict suspension-feeder bivalve (Crassostrea gigas), were investigated to typify the trophic functioning of two contrasted marine coastal ecosystems (eutrophic and mesotrophic, east and west Cotentin peninsula, respectively, English Channel, Normandy, France). On average, δ13C and δ15N values of lugworms mirrored those of sediment organic matter (SOM), whereas δ13C and δ15N of oysters mirrored those of suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM). δ13C values of the two species displayed significant differences on the west coast (mesotrophic) contrary to the east coast (eutrophic; significant interactions). δ15N values differed only between sites and not between species. Diet of A. marina relied exclusively on microphytobenthos (MPB) and detritus of macroalgae (ULV) on the mesotrophic coast, whereas diet of C. gigas relied mainly on SPOM. Conversely, on the eutrophic ecosystem (the east coast), both species displayed the same diet, which was a mixture of pelagic sources (SPOM), benthic sources (MPB and ULV) and to a lesser extent riverine particulate organic matter (rPOM). These results were explained by the intensity of benthic vs. pelagic couplings (i.e. benthic-pelagic and pelagic-benthic) which differed in the two ecosystems. Low trophic coupling occurred on the mesotrophic (west) coast, whereas benthic-pelagic (SOM resuspension) and pelagic-benthic (settling of SPOM such as phytoplankton blooms) couplings were typified on the eutrophic (east) coast. This higher particulate organic matter (POM) pelagic-benthic coupling on the east coast was probably enhanced by nutrient enrichment caused by eutrophication. Comparison of δ13C ratios of both the strict deposit-feeder (e.g. A. marina) and the strict suspension-feeder (e.g. C. gigas) was then proposed as a bio-indicator of the trophic status and of POM benthic vs. pelagic couplings of soft-bottom coastal ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Lucile Menildrey and Clémentine Harma for helping in the collection of lugworms. We are grateful again to Lucile Menildrey but also to Jehanne Lepoittevin for technically processing the lugworm’s tissues and sediment core samples respectively prior to stable isotopes analyses. We are indebted to Marie-Paul Bataillé for her technical support in IRMS. This work was supported by the POMOYSTER program (2004–2007) financed by DIREN Basse-Normandie, Agence de l’eau Seine-Normandie and DRAM/IFOP. This manuscript has been professionally edited by Peter Magee and we thank him. Finally, we would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and the associated editor Robert Christian for their fruitful comments on this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Paris 06, UFR927, 5 place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France

    Sylvie Marylène Gaudron

  2. Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Cote d’Opale, UMR 8187, LOG, Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences, F 62930, Wimereux, France

    Sylvie Marylène Gaudron & Sébastien Lefebvre

  3. Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, UMR BOREA, MNHN, UPMC, UCBN, CNRS-7208, IRD-207, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032, Caen, France

    Karine Grangeré

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  1. Sylvie Marylène Gaudron
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Correspondence to Sylvie Marylène Gaudron.

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Gaudron, S.M., Grangeré, K. & Lefebvre, S. The Comparison of δ13C Values of a Deposit- and a Suspension-Feeder Bio-Indicates Benthic vs. Pelagic Couplings and Trophic Status in Contrasted Coastal Ecosystems. Estuaries and Coasts 39, 731–741 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-015-0020-x

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