Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T07:03:18.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trophic plasticity in similar habitats: an example which severely limits generalization among ecosystems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Pascal Riera
Pascal Riera*
Affiliation:
Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, CNRS, UMR 7144, Station Biologique de Roscoff, BP 74, 29682 Roscoff Cedex, France
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: P. Riera, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, CNRS, UMR 7144, Station Biologique de Roscoff, BP 74, 29682 Roscoff Cedex, France email: riera@sb-roscoff.fr
Get access

Abstract

A single trophic interaction between two major biotic components within similar ecosystems can reveal high variability. In fact, in situ measurements of the trophic interactions, as provided by the field application of stable isotopes, are likely to reveal strong differences in patterns. An illustration of such a geographical plasticity is provided when regarding the trophic interaction between two major components of intertidal habitats namely, the oyster Crassostrea gigas and the microphytobenthos. The contribution of benthic diatoms to oysters' diets ranged from 4.4±3.5% in the Mont St Michel bay to 69.6±1.1% in the Marennes-Oléron bay, as estimated from δ13C and δ15N analyses. Concerning food web investigations, these results point out serious limits for extrapolating qualitative and quantitative observations related to the major trophic links between identical food sources and consumers inhabiting similar ecosystems.

Keywords

trophic interactionstable isotopesCrassostrea gigasmicrophytobenthosfunctional plasticity
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 2 , January 2009 , e47
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Chase, J.M. (2000) Are there real differences among aquatic and terrestrial food webs? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15, 408–412.Google Scholar
Couch, C.A. (1989) Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of meiobenthos and their food resources. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 28, 433–441.Google Scholar
Currin, C.A., Newell, S.Y. and Paerl, H.W. (1995) The role of standing dead Spartina alterniflora and benthic microalgae in salt marsh food webs: considerations based on multiple stable isotope analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 121, 99–116.Google Scholar
Decottignies, P., Beninger, P.G., Rincé, Y., Robins, R.J. and Riera, P. (2007) Exploitation of natural food sources by two sympatric, invasive suspension-feeders, Crassostrea gigas and Crepidula fornicata. Marine Ecology Progress Series 334, 179–192.Google Scholar
Garlashelli, D. (2004) Universality in food webs. The European Physical Journal B, 38, 277–285.Google Scholar
Phillips, D.L. and Gregg, J.W. (2003) Source partitioning using stable isotopes: coping with too many sources. Oecologia 136, 261–269.Google Scholar
Polis, G.A., Sears, A.L.W., Huxel, G.R., Strong, D.R. and Maron, J. (2000) When is a trophic cascade a trophic cascade? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 15, 473–475.Google Scholar
Riera, P. (2007) Trophic subsidies of Crassostrea gigas, Mytilus edulis and Crepidula fornicata in the Bay of Mont Saint Michel (France): A δ13C and δ15N investigation. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 72, 33–41.Google Scholar
Riera, P. and Richard, P. (1996) Isotopic determination of food sources of Crassostrea gigas along a trophic gradient in the estuarine bay of Marennes-Oléron. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 42, 347–360.Google Scholar
Riera, P., Stal, L.J. and Nieuwenhuize, J. (2002) δ13C vs δ15N of co-occurring molluscs within a community dominated by Crassostrea gigas and Crepidula fornicata (Oosterschelde, The Netherlands). Marine Ecology Progress Series 240, 291–295.Google Scholar
Riera, P., Stal, L.J. and Nieuwenhuize, J. (2004) Utilization of food sources by invertebrates in a man-made intertidal ecosystem (Westerschelde, The Netherlands): a δ13C and δ15N study. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 84, 323–326.Google Scholar