Stable Isotope Analysis of Food Web Structure and the Contribution of Carbon Sources in the Sea Adjacent to the Miaodao Archipelago (China)

Fishes

Yongsong Zhao¹  Chao Wei²  Guangliang Teng²  Tao Yang²  Xianshi Jin²  Xiujuan Shan² 

[1] College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China;Key Laboratory of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fishery Resources and Ecological Environment, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China;

关键词: marine ecosystem;    benthic food web;    stable isotope;    isotopic niche trophic level;    carbon sources;    macroalgae;   

DOI  :  10.3390/fishes7010032

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The littoral zones around archipelagos are highly productive coastal habitats that serve as biodiversity hotspots and provide valuable ecosystem services that are different from those of the pelagic and profundal zones. The littoral zone has complex basal carbon sources from different primary producers and is an important ocean–land transition area. Macroalgae are the main primary producers of the littoral zone, but their carbon contribution to consumers is rarely studied. Basal carbon sources determine the structure of the food web. In order to determine the contribution of basal carbon sources and the food web structure of the littoral zone, we used carbon and nitrogen stable isotope techniques and a Bayesian mixing model to study the autumn benthic food web in the sea adjacent to the Miaodao Archipelago. The potential carbon sources of the benthic food web biota in the sea adjacent to the Miaodao Archipelago in autumn are mainly algae (including phytoplankton and macroalgae) and SOM, but the contribution of POM is low. Macroalgae may play a more important role in the littoral zone benthic food webs. Although there are certain uncertainties in the model results, invertebrates and fish have obvious differences in their use of carbon sources. The trophic importance of different primary producers varies with functional feeding groups, and the resource utilization of different functional feeding groups may have certain spatial characteristics.

【 授权许可】

Unknown