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Trophic ecology of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in the ocean: a synthesis of stable isotope research

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Increasing interest in the marine trophic dynamics of Pacific salmon has been motivated by the recognition of their sensitivity to changing climate and to the competitive effects of hatchery fish on wild stocks. It has become more common to use stable isotopes to supplement traditional diet studies of salmon in the ocean; however, there have been no integrated syntheses of these data to determine whether stable isotope analyses support the existing conventional wisdom of feeding strategies of the Pacific salmon. We performed a meta-analysis of stable isotope data to examine the extent of trophic partitioning among five species of Pacific salmon during their marine lives. Pink, sockeye, and chum salmon showed very high overlap in resource use and there was no consistent evidence for chum relying on alternative food webs dominated by gelatinous zooplankton. δ15N showed that Chinook and coho salmon fed at trophic levels higher than the other three species. In addition, these two species were distinctly enriched in 13C, suggesting more extensive use of coastal food webs compared to the more depleted (pelagic) signatures of pink, sockeye, and chum salmon. This paper presents the first synthesis of stable isotope work on Pacific salmon and provides δ15N and δ13C values applicable to research on the fate of the marine derived nutrients these organisms transport to freshwater and riparian ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

This work is a contribution of the University of Washington Alaska Salmon Program, funded by the National Science Foundation (Biological Oceanography, Biocomplexity), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Alaska salmon processors, and the University of Washington. We thank G. Holtgrieve, J. Moore, W. Palen, L. Rogers, M. Winder, P. Westley, and J. Wittouck for assistance in obtaining salmon tissue samples, T. Essington for analytical assistance, N. Davis for comments on earlier manuscript drafts, and J. Carter and C. Ruff for assistance in sample preparation.

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  1. School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, University of Washington, Box 355020, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

    Susan P. Johnson & Daniel E. Schindler

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  1. Susan P. Johnson
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Correspondence to Susan P. Johnson.

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Johnson, S.P., Schindler, D.E. Trophic ecology of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in the ocean: a synthesis of stable isotope research. Ecol Res 24, 855–863 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-008-0559-0

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