Abstract
Marine food webs are strongly size-structured and size-based analysis of communities is a useful approach to evaluate food webs in a way that can be compared across systems. Fatty acid analysis is commonly used to identify diet sources of species, offering a powerful complement to stable isotopes, but is rarely applied to size-structured communities. In this study, we used fatty acids and stable isotopes to characterize size-based variation in prey resources and trophic pathways over a nine-month temperate coastal ocean time series of seven plankton size classes, from > 0.7-μm particulate organic matter through > 2000-μm zooplankton. Zooplankton size classes were generally distinguishable by their dietary fatty acids, while stable isotopes revealed more seasonal variability. Fatty acids of zooplankton were correlated with those of their prey (particulate organic matter and smaller zooplankton) and identified trophic pathways, including widespread ties to the microbial food web. Diatom fatty acids also contributed to zooplankton but fall blooms were more important than spring. Concurrent isotope-based trophic position estimates and fatty acid markers of carnivory showed that some indicators (18:1ω9/18:1ω7) are not consistent across size classes, while others (DHA:EPA) are relatively reliable. Both analysis methods provided distinct information to build a more robust understanding of resource use. For example, fatty acid markers showed that trophic position was likely underestimated in 250-μm zooplankton, probably due to their consumption of protists with low isotopic fractionation factors. Applying fatty acid analysis to a size-structured framework provides more insight into trophic pathways than isotopes alone.
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Data and code availability
Data and code are provided at https://github.com/Pelagic-Ecosystems/QU39zoops2015.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Hakai Institute’s Quadra Island field station for their time and energy in the field collection and curation of oceanographic data, and the staff at the Pacific Science Enterprise Center for fatty acid analyses.
Funding
A. McLaskey was funded by the Tula-Mitacs Canada Grant IT13677. Funding for this research was provided by the Tula Foundation and B. Hunt’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Grant No. RGPIN-2017-04499.
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AKM and BPVH conceptualized the study; IF and BPVH acquired funding and provided resources; AKM curated the data, did the analysis and visualization, and wrote the original draft. AKM, IF, and BPVH reviewed and edited the manuscript.
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Communicated by Maarten Boersma.
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McLaskey, A.K., Forster, I. & Hunt, B.P.V. Distinct trophic ecologies of zooplankton size classes are maintained throughout the seasonal cycle. Oecologia 204, 227–239 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05501-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05501-y