Stable nitrogen isotope studies of the pelagic food web on the Atlantic shelf of the Iberian Peninsula

By A. Bode, M. T. Alvarez-Ossorio, M. E. Cunha, S. Garrido, J. Peleteiro, C. Porteiro, L. Valdés, M. Varela. 2007

121 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The structure and variability of pelagic food webs along the north and northwestern shelf of the Iberian Peninsula were analysed using natural abundance of nitrogen stable isotopes of plankton and pelagic consumers. Plankton composition was mainly studied in size-fractionated samples, but also the isotopic signatures of three copepod species, as representative of primary consumers, were considered. Several fish species were included as planktivorous consumers, with special attention to sardine (Sardina pilchardus). Finally, top pelagic consumers were represented by the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis). The relationship between trophic position and body size implies large variability in the ratio of predator to prey sizes, likely because widespread omnivory and plankton consumption by relatively large predators. Planktivorous species share a common trophic position, suggesting potential competition for food, and low nitrogen isotope enrichment between prey and consumers suggest nutrient limitation and recycling at the base of the food web. Both experimental and field evidences indicate that the muscle of sardine integrates fish diet over seasonal periods and reflects the composition of plankton from large shelf areas. The low mobility of sardines during periods of low population size is consistent with differential isotopic signatures found in shelf zones characterised by upwelling nutrient inputs.

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/5d36b688eced7ff4c427a58f81c1ba1d31f23f40

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Citations in the corpus

Food web dynamics in the Scotia Sea in summer: A stable isotope study (2012, background): “A combination of omnivory, large predators feeding on smaller, more productive size classes of prey, large pelagic suspension feeders feeding on very small suspended particulate organic matter and morphological adaptations of small predators to feed on larger prey, were the main factors explaining t”
Prey dominance shapes trophic structure of the northern California Current pelagic food web: evidence from stable isotopes and diet analysis (2010, background): “Other than Bode et al. (2007), surprisingly few studies have applied stable isotopes on an ecosystem scale for marine upwelling ecosystems, with most occuring from other systems, such as the Tasman Sea, Australia (Davenport & Bax 2002), northeast Atlantic Ocean (Sherwood & Rose 2005), Arctic Ocean…”
Ontogenetic and seasonal changes in the feeding habits and trophic levels of two small pelagic fish species (2012, background): “Elsevier, Amsterdam, p 281−293 Bode A, Alvarez-Ossorio MT, Cunha ME, Garrido S and others (2007) Stable nitrogen isotope studies of the pelagic food web on the Atlantic shelf of the Iberian Peninsula.”
Foraging ecology of five toothed whale species in the Northwest Iberian Peninsula, inferred using carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (2012, methodology): “Furthermore, there is also considerable variability in the isotopic composition of plankton and their consumers from year to year (Bode et al., 2007).”
Diet of young Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in eastern and western Atlantic foraging grounds (2010, background): “In the BYB, 1- to 2-year-old ABFT have low d15N values, corresponding to values of smaller primary consumers (e.g., sardines) (Bode et al. 2007).”