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The effect of nitrogen loading on a brackish estuarine faunal community: A stable isotope approach

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Abstract

Coastal ecosystems worldwide face increased nutrient enrichment from shoreline and watershed development and atmospheric pollution. We investigated the response of the faunal community of a small microtidal estuary dominated byRuppia maritima (widgeon grass) in Maine, United States, to increased nitrogen loading using an in situ mesocosm enrichment experiment. Community response was characterized by assessing quantitative shifts in macroinvertebrate community composition and identifying changes in food web structure using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of producers and consumers. The community was dominated by brackish water invertebrates including midge larvae, oligochaetes, damselfly larvae, amphipods, and ostracods. Experimental nutrient additions resulted in significantly lower densities of herbivorous chironomids and predatory damselflies and greater densities of deposit feeding oligochaetes. Grazing midge larvae (Chironomidae:Dicrotendipes, Cricotopus) consumed epiphytic algae under both natural and enriched conditions. Deposit feedingChironomus was dependent on allochthonous sources of detritus under natural conditions and exhibited a shift to autochthonous sources of detritus under enriched conditions. PredatoryEnallagma primarily consumed grazing chironomids under all but the highest loading conditions. Experimental nutrient loading resulted in an increase in generalist deposit feeders dependent on autochthonous sources of detritus.

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Sources of Unpublished Materials

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Spatial Information Science and Engineering, University of Maine, 5711 Boardman Hall, 04469, Orono, Maine

    Rachel A. Keats

  2. Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Maine, 5722 Deering Hall, 04469, Orono, Maine

    Laurie J. Osher

  3. U.S. Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 196 Whitten Road, 04330, Augusta, Maine

    Hilary A. Neckles

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  1. Rachel A. Keats
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  2. Laurie J. Osher
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Keats, R.A., Osher, L.J. & Neckles, H.A. The effect of nitrogen loading on a brackish estuarine faunal community: A stable isotope approach. Estuaries 27, 460–471 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02803538

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