Intercontinental analysis of temperate steppe stream food webs reveals consistent autochthonous support of fishes.
Ecol Lett
; 25(12): 2624-2636, 2022 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36223323
ABSTRACT
Quantifying the trophic basis of production for freshwater metazoa at broad spatial scales is key to understanding ecosystem function and has been a research priority for decades. However, previous lotic food web studies have been limited by geographic coverage or methodological constraints. We used compound-specific stable carbon isotope analysis of amino acids (AAs) to estimate basal resource contributions to fish consumers in streams spanning grassland, montane and semi-arid ecoregions of the temperate steppe biome on two continents. Across a range of stream sizes and light regimes, we found consistent trophic importance of aquatic resources. Essential AAs of heterotrophic microbial origin generally provided secondary support for fishes, while terrestrial carbon did not seem to provide significant, direct support. These findings provide strong evidence for the dominant contribution of carbon to higher-order consumers by aquatic autochthonous resources (primarily) and heterotrophic microbial communities (secondarily) in temperate steppe streams.
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Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Cadeia Alimentar
/
Rios
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Ecol Lett
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos