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Food web structure and isotopic niche in a fringe macro-tidal mangrove system, Tropical Eastern Pacific

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Abstract

Tropical mangroves are amongst the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth. In order to understand the trophic dynamics of estuarine mangrove fringes in the Tropical Eastern Pacific, stable isotope data (δ13C/δ15N) of primary producers and consumers (macroinvertebrates) were analyzed using Bayesian mixing models (MixSIAR/SIBER). The mangrove food web exhibited four trophic levels, a wide consumer δ13C range (~ 10‰), consumer dependence on different carbon sources (mangroves-detritus, microphytobenthos, macroalgae, planktonic sources), and a wide consumer isotopic niche with little overlap. According to MixSiar analyses, microphytobenthos was an important resource for deposit feeders (60%), filter feeders (65%), filter feeder bivalves (76%), and carnivores (49%). This suggests that microphytobentos provide significant support to the mangrove macroinvertebrate community. Additionally, mangrove-derived carbon played a major role in sustaining herbivores (44%), while macroalgae partially sustained omnivores (33%) and carnivores (45%). Finally, planktonic sources were found to partially support omnivores (33%). Our results reinforce the hypothesis that a diversity of trophic pathways support estuarine mangrove communities, albeit with microphytobenthos being the main carbon source. These findings underline the complexity of the trophic dynamics of estuarine mangrove—food webs in one of the most biodiverse areas of the world.

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Acknowledgements

Financial and logistic support for this study has been given by the projects “Análisis de la dinámica trófica en dos manglares del Pacífico colombiano, mediante el uso integrado de isótopos estables y modelación ecosistémica: Importancia para la producción pesquera del sistema” with code 110665944115, accomplished by Universidad del Valle and co-funded by Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (COLCIENCIAS) through the call number 659 of 2014, “Variabilidad espacio-temporal del nitrógeno utilizando bioindicadores y nutrientes en ambientes marinos transicionales” with code 20195113 and “Nitrógeno en el pasto de tortuga Thalassia testudinum asociada a la actividad antropogénica en la Península de Yucatán” with code SIP20180664. DMC is supporting by the doctoral scholarship number 734084 funded by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) México and the “Beca de estímulo Institucional de Formación de Investigadores BEIFI” fellowship from Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México. FAG is supporting by a Master scholarship funded by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) México. Special thanks to every local co-researcher that has shared their intimate knowledge of these priceless ecosystems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, La Paz, Mexico

    Diana Medina-Contreras, Fernando Arenas-González & Alberto Sánchez-González

  2. Grupo de Investigación en Ecología de Estuarios y Manglares, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia

    Diana Medina-Contreras & Jaime Cantera-Kintz

  3. Grupo de investigación en Ciencias Oceanográficas, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia

    Alan Giraldo

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  1. Diana Medina-Contreras
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  3. Jaime Cantera-Kintz
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  4. Alberto Sánchez-González
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Medina-Contreras, D., Arenas-González, F., Cantera-Kintz, J. et al. Food web structure and isotopic niche in a fringe macro-tidal mangrove system, Tropical Eastern Pacific. Hydrobiologia 847, 3185–3199 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04295-x

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