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Mussel isotope signature as indicator of nutrient pollution in a freshwater eutrophic lake: species, spatial, and seasonal variability

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Abstract

Stable nitrogen isotope ratios of five mussel species from littoral and pelagic areas were investigated with different trophic states in the eutrophic Lake Taihu, the third largest lake in China. Interpopulation variability for these mussels was relatively small in foot tissues because of the slow turnover time. Seasonal and spatial variations among the δ 15N values of mussels might be due in part to the natural variation in δ 15N values of potential food sources and the variation in the amount of human pollutions discharged into various locations of the lake. Although the increase of mussel δ 15N values was accompanied by the increase of nutrient concentrations in most situations in this study, statistically significant correlations were only 22% of the total correlations in this survey, which might be attributed to the different time-scale variations in nutrient concentrations and isotope signatures and the unknown details of the trophic pathways and metabolism for incorporation of these nutrients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Science, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Zhourui Wen, Ping Xie & Jun Xu

  2. Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100039, People’s Republic of China

    Zhourui Wen

  3. Hubei Fishery Science Institute, Wuhan, 430071, People’s Republic of China

    Zhourui Wen

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  1. Zhourui Wen
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  2. Ping Xie
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  3. Jun Xu
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Correspondence to Ping Xie.

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Wen, Z., Xie, P. & Xu, J. Mussel isotope signature as indicator of nutrient pollution in a freshwater eutrophic lake: species, spatial, and seasonal variability. Environ Monit Assess 163, 139–147 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-0823-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-0823-y

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