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The role of standing dead Spartina alterniflora and benthic microalgae in salt marsh food webs: considerations based on multiple stable isotope analysis

TLDR
In this article, the stable isotope compositions (C, N, and S) of hve, senescent, and standing dead Spartina alterniflora were compared in order to determine the effects of aerial decomposition on the isotopic signature of aboveground S. alternjflora entering the food chain, which indicated that N2fixing microorganisms associdated with microalgal communities were an important source of N to salt marsh consumers.
Abstract
The stable isotope compositions (C, N, and S) of hve, senescent, and standing dead Spartina alterniflora were compared in order to determine the effects of aerial decomposition on the isotopic signature of aboveground S. dlterniflora tissue entering the food chain. Aerial decomposition of aboveground S. alterniflora resulted in a 6 to 18% increase in P S , and a 2 to 3 % decrease in 615N values; 613c values were unchanged. We describe mechanisms whereby the activity of fungi and epiphytic microorganisms may contribute to the observed shlfts in and 6I5N, respectively. The 613c value of salt marsh benthic and eplphytic microalgae ranged from -13.0% in summer to -17.6%0 in early spring. Average 6'\" values of microalgae and standing dead S. altemiflora were -0 3 and l.?%, respectively, reflecting the activity of NZ-fixing microorganisms. The 615N values for omnivorous and herbivorous salt marsh macrofauna ranged between 7.5 and 2.2% and for predatory Fundulus spp. averaged 9.2%. Given a presumptive + 3 % trophic shift in N assimilation, these results suggest that N2-fixing microorganisms associdted with microalgal communities were an important source of N to salt marsh consumers. The 6% 6'\"N, and 6\"'s values of primary producers were compared to the values of the following consumers: Fundulus spp., Uca spp., Ilyanassa obsoleta, and Littoraria irrorata. 6I3C VS 6 1 5 ~ and 613C vs 63JS dual isotope plots demonstrated that microalgae and standing dead S. alternjflora are important food resources in the North Carolina (USA) marshes we sampled. In addition, a compilation of literature values suggests that this is true in salt marshes throughout the East and Gulf coasts of North America. Future isotope studies of marsh food webs should include detrital Spartina spp. material in analyses of trophic structure.

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Influence of Diet On the Distribtion of Nitrogen Isotopes in Animals

TL;DR: In this article, the influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals was investigated by analyzing animals grown in the laboratory on diets of constant nitrogen isotopic composition and found that the variability of the relationship between the δ^(15)N values of animals and their diets is greater for different individuals raised on the same diet than for the same species raised on different diets.
Dissertation

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TL;DR: Swartwood et al. as mentioned in this paper investigated whether the age structure, population density, and distribution of Littoraria angulifera in the Smithsonian Institution's Florida Everglades mesocosm in Washington, DC is analogous to that of wild populations.
Dissertation

Isotope geochemistry of organic sulfur compounds with links to biogeochemical sulfur cycling and radical chemistry

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Anoxic metabolism in permeable sediments

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References
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Seasonal dynamics of carbon stable isotope ratios of particulate organic matter and benthic diatoms in strongly acidic Lake Katanuma

TL;DR: The mean δ 13 C of benthic diatoms was higher than that of phytoplankton in Lake Katanuma, although the diatom seemed to assimilate the same carbon source (CO 2 gas) in the lake water.
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Carbon and nutrient accumulation in tropical mangrove creeks, Amazon region

TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the potential organic carbon sequestration of the creek mudflats to get a better understanding of the carbon cycling through these systems and found that the sedimentary organic matter (OM) is mainly influenced by marine phytoplankton input (49% to 95%).
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Sex- and habitat-specific movement of an omnivorous semi-terrestrial crab controls habitat connectivity and subsidies: a multi-parameter approach

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that Armases exhibits sex-specific habitat choice and food preference, and may act as a key biotic vector of spatial subsidies across habitat borders by using both coastal forest and saltmarsh habitats, but feeding predominantly in the latter.
Journal ArticleDOI

Biogenic silica in intertidal marsh plants and associated sediments of the Yangtze Estuary.

TL;DR: Overall, the intertidal marshes in the Yangtze Estuary may act as a net sink of BSi via plant uptake and sedimentary burial via plant digestion and leaching of labile components of plant tissues such as organic carbon and nitrogen.
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La crépidule en rade de Brest : un modèle biologique d'espèce introduite proliférante en répons aux fluctuations de l'environnement

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose anapproche multidisciplinaire de ce travail permet d'etudier les mecanismes d'adaptation et de regulation naturelle de la crepidule in rade de Brest face aux fluctuations naturelles de l'environnement (hydroclimat) and aux perturbations anthropiques (eutrophisation) and identify ses impacts on le fonctionnement of l'ecosysteme.
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