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journal article Nov 14, 2020

Intraspecific variation and energy channel coupling within a Chilean kelp forest

Emma A. Elliott Smith ORCID Chris Harrod ORCID Felipe Docmac Seth D. Newsome
Ecology Vol. 102 No. 1 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1002/ecy.3198
Abstract
AbstractThe widespread importance of variable types of primary production, or energy channels, to consumer communities has become increasingly apparent. However, the mechanisms underlying this “multichannel” feeding remain poorly understood, especially for aquatic ecosystems that pose unique logistical constraints given the diversity of potential energy channels. Here, we use bulk tissue isotopic analysis along with carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis of individual amino acids to characterize the relative contribution of pelagic and benthic energy sources to a kelp forest consumer community in northern Chile. We measured bulk tissue δ13C and δ15N for >120 samples; of these we analyzed δ13C values of six essential amino acids (EAA) from nine primary producer groups (n = 41) and 11 representative nearshore consumer taxa (n = 56). Using EAA δ13C data, we employed linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to assess how distinct EAA δ13C values were between local pelagic (phytoplankton/particulate organic matter), and benthic (kelps, red algae, and green algae) endmembers. With this model, we were able to correctly classify nearly 90% of producer samples to their original groupings, a significant improvement on traditional bulk isotopic analysis. With this EAA isotopic library, we then generated probability distributions for the most important sources of production for each individual consumer and species using a bootstrap‐resampling LDA approach. We found evidence for multichannel feeding within the community at the species level. Invertebrates tended to focus on either pelagic or benthic energy, deriving 13–67% of their EAA from pelagic sources. In contrast, mobile (fish) taxa at higher trophic levels used more equal proportions of each channel, ranging from 19% to 47% pelagically derived energy. Within a taxon, multichannel feeding was a result of specialization among individuals in energy channel usage, with 37 of 56 individual consumers estimated to derive >80% of their EAA from a single channel. Our study reveals how a cutting‐edge isotopic technique can characterize the dynamics of energy flow in coastal food webs, a topic that has historically been difficult to address. More broadly, our work provides a mechanism as to how multichannel feeding may occur in nearshore communities, and we suggest this pattern be investigated in additional ecosystems.
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Metrics
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Citations
63
References
Details
Published
Nov 14, 2020
Vol/Issue
102(1)
License
View
Authors
E
Emma A. Elliott Smith

Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution 10th St. & Constitution Ave. NW Washington D.C. 20560 USA; Department of Biology University of New Mexico 219 Yale Blvd NE Albuquerque New Mexico 87131‐0001 USA

C
Chris Harrod

Instituto de Ciencias Naturales Alexander von Humboldt Universidad de Antofagasta Avenida Angamos 601 Antofagasta Chile; Universidad de Antofagasta Stable Isotope Facility (UASIF) Universidad de Antofagasta Avenida Angamos 601 Antofagasta Chile; Núcleo Milenio Salmónidos Invasores (INVASAL) Concepción Chile

F
Felipe Docmac

Instituto de Ciencias Naturales Alexander von Humboldt Universidad de Antofagasta Avenida Angamos 601 Antofagasta Chile; Universidad de Antofagasta Stable Isotope Facility (UASIF) Universidad de Antofagasta Avenida Angamos 601 Antofagasta Chile

S
Seth D. Newsome

Department of Biology University of New Mexico 219 Yale Blvd NE Albuquerque New Mexico 87131‐0001 USA

Funding
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Cientìfico y Tecnológico Award: 1151515
Cite This Article
Emma A. Elliott Smith, Chris Harrod, Felipe Docmac, et al. (2020). Intraspecific variation and energy channel coupling within a Chilean kelp forest. Ecology, 102(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3198
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