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Population divergence in fish elemental phenotypes associated with trophic phenotypes and lake trophic state

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Abstract

Studies of ecological stoichiometry typically emphasize the role of interspecific variation in body elemental content and the effects of species or family identity. Recent work suggests substantial variation in body stoichiometry can also exist within species. The importance of this variation will depend on insights into its origins and consequences at various ecological scales, including the distribution of elemental phenotypes across landscapes and their role in nutrient recycling. We investigated whether trophic divergence can produce predictable patterns of elemental phenotypes among populations of an invasive fish, the white perch (Morone americana), and whether elemental phenotypes predict nutrient excretion. White perch populations exhibited a gradient of trophic phenotypes associated with landscape-scale variation in lake trophic state. Perch body chemistry varied considerably among lakes (from 0.09 for % C to 0.31-fold for % P) casting doubt on the assumption of homogenous elemental phenotypes. This variation was correlated with divergence in fish body shape and other trophic traits. Elemental phenotypes covaried (r 2 up to 0.84) with lake trophic state. This covariation likely arose in contemporary time since many of these perch populations were introduced in the last century and the trophic state in many of the lakes has changed in the past few decades. Nutrient excretion varied extensively among populations, but was not readily related to fish body chemistry or lake trophic state. This suggests that predictable patterns of fish body composition can arise quickly through trophic specialization to lake conditions, but such elemental phenotypes may not translate to altered nutrient recycling by fish.

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Acknowledgments

Many people contributed to this project including Dennis Anderson, Joe Dembeck, Joe Glowa, David Halliwell, John Reynolds and Wes Wright. This project was funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. This publication has not been formally reviewed by the EPA and the views expressed are solely those of the authors. Additional support was provided by the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station (Contribution # 3499) and the National Science Foundation through a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DEB 1011267).

Author contribution statement

QMT, MTK, JES and KSS designed the experiments. QMT and KSS performed the experiments. QMT analyzed the data. QMT, MTK, JES and KSS wrote the manuscript.

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  1. Quenton M. Tuckett

    Present address: Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory, University of Florida, Ruskin, FL, 33570, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Quenton M. Tuckett, Michael T. Kinnison & Jasmine E. Saros

  2. School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Kevin S. Simon

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  1. Quenton M. Tuckett
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Correspondence to Quenton M. Tuckett.

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All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Communicated by Craig A. Layman.

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Tuckett, Q.M., Kinnison, M.T., Saros, J.E. et al. Population divergence in fish elemental phenotypes associated with trophic phenotypes and lake trophic state. Oecologia 182, 765–778 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3714-2

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