Open AccessJournal Article
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.read more
Citations
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Influence of Diet On the Distribtion of Nitrogen Isotopes in Animals
Michael J. DeNiro,Samuel Epstein +1 more
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
Ecological interactions and geological implications of foraminifera and associated meiofauna in temperate salt marshes of eastern canada
TL;DR: In this paper, a Mesocosm and Microcosm Experiments on the Feeding of Temperate Salt Marsh Foraminifera are described, and a taxonomic resolution and Tidal Gradients in Food Webs for Two Temperate salt Marshes: How Much Detail is Enough?
Dissertation
Assessment of mangrove and salt marsh mesocosm functional value using periwinkle snails, littoraria angulifera and littoraria irrorata, as an indicator
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
TL;DR: Oduro et al. as mentioned in this paper reported one of the first sulfur isotope constraints on the factors that control the expression on the S-isotope effects of VOSCs and their natural precursors.
DissertationDOI
Anoxic metabolism in permeable sediments
TL;DR: This thesis investigates the pathways of dissolved inorganic carbon production in anoxic permeable sediments and the challenge of replicating flow conditions under anoxic conditions using FTRs and experimental design.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic ratios of filter-feeding bivalves along the French coasts: An assessment of specific, geographic, seasonal and multi-decadal variations.
Nicolas Briant,Nicolas Savoye,Tiphaine Chouvelon,Valérie David,Samuel Rodriguez,Karine Charlier,Jeroen E. Sonke,Jean François Chiffoleau,Christophe Brach-Papa,Joël Knoery +9 more
TL;DR: Investigation of variations of C and N elemental and isotopic ratios in common bivalves revealed shifts and trends for part of the 30-year series with decreases in δ13C and δ15N, likely linking bivalve isotopic ratio shifts to a cascade of processes affected by local drivers.
Journal ArticleDOI
Increased Organic Carbon Burial in Northern Florida Mangrove-Salt Marsh Transition Zones
Derrick R. Vaughn,Derrick R. Vaughn,Thomas S. Bianchi,Michael R. Shields,Michael R. Shields,William F. Kenney,Todd Z. Osborne,Todd Z. Osborne +7 more
TL;DR: In this article, surface soils analyzed from wetlands along northern Florida Atlantic and Gulf Coasts showed higher apparent sedimentation rates in mangrovedominated sites (1.5-3.2 mm yr) and where mangroves are migrating into the marsh (termed transition sites, 2.3-3 mm yr).
Journal ArticleDOI
The Effects of Plant Invasion and Ecosystem Restoration on Energy Flow through Salt Marsh Food Webs
TL;DR: Analysis of the effects of a plant invasion on resident fish in New England salt marshes by assessing diet quality at the food web base and quantifying the importance of primary producers to secondary production using a recently developed Bayesian mixing model revealed that consumers rely less on benthic microalgae and phytoplankton in restricted marshes, resulting in a shift in diet toward invasive plant consumption.
Journal ArticleDOI
Nutritional ecology of thalassinidean shrimps constructing burrows with debris chambers: The distribution and use of macronutrients and micronutrients
TL;DR: Corallianassa longiventris apparently relies on the chamber content and the burrow wall as sources of carbon and nitrogen, whereas Pestarella tyrrhena probably relies on ambient debris and on benthic foraminiferans and microphytobenthos in the surface sediment.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of non-native Spartina patens on plant and sediment organic matter carbon incorporation into the local invertebrate community.
TL;DR: The study suggests that the influences of S. patens invasion extend beyond the more obvious changes in native plant abundance, to include differing responses in the cycling of organic matter between detritivore and insect herbivore food web pathways.