Most stoichiometric models do not consider the importance of ontogenetic changes in body nutrient composition and excretion rates. We quantified ontogenetic variation in stoichiometry and diet in gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepedianum , an omnivorous fish with a pronounced ontogenetic diet shift; and zebrafish, Danio rerio, grown in the lab with a constant diet. In both species, body stoichiometry varied considerably along the life cycle. Larval gizzard shad and zebrafish had higher molar C:P and N:P ratios than larger fish. Variation in body nutrient ratios was driven mainly by body P, which increased with size. Gizzard shad body calcium content was highly correlated with P content, indicating that ontogenetic P variation is associated with bone formation. Similar trends in body stoichiometry of zebrafish, grown under constant diet in the laboratory, suggest that ontogeny (e.g. bone formation) and not diet shift is the main factor affecting fish body stoichiometry in larval and juvenile stages. The N:P ratio of nutrient excretion also varied ontogenetically in gizzard shad, but the decline from larvae to juveniles appears to be largely associated with variation in the N:P of alternative food resources (zooplankton vs detritus) rather than by fish body N:P. Furthermore, the N:P ratio of larval gizzard shad excretion appears to be driven more by the N:P ratio at which individuals allocate nutrients to growth, more so than static body N:P, further illustrating the need to consider ontogenetic variation. Our results thus show that fish exhibit considerable ontogenetic variation in body stoichiometry, driven by an inherent increase in the relative allocation of P to bones, whereas ontogenetic variation in excretion N:P ratio of gizzard shad is driven more by variation in food N:P than by body N:P.Stoichiometric models in ecology often assume that consumer species are homeostatic with respect to body nutrients (Sterner 1990, Hanson et al. 1997, Schindler and Eby 1997. However, some species show ontogenetic changes in, or at least some variation in, body nutrients, and the consequences of such changes are poorly known. There is evidence that some invertebrates show ontogenetic changes in body stoichiometry, and this variation appears to be affected by growth rates and diet. For example, in copepods Villar-Argaiz et al. (2000) found a gradual decrease in body P as individuals grew. They also found that the increase of C and N with size was affected by growth rate. Hessen (1990) found that juvenile Daphnia magna had more body P than did adults, probably due to the high growth rate experienced by small bodied organisms (the growth rate hypothesis; Elser et al. 2000). Diet might also have an important effect on the organism's body composition. For example, DeMott et al. (1998), and DeMott and Pape (2005 demonstrated that P deficient diets can affect growth rate and body P content of daphniids. In insects, Frost and Elser (2002) found a negative relationship between body size and body P content, and this relationship was, as in...

Most stoichiometric models do not consider the importance of ontogenetic changes in body nutrient composition and excretion rates. We quantified ontogenetic variation in stoichiometry and diet in gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepedianum , an omnivorous fish with a pronounced ontogenetic diet shift; and zebrafish, Danio rerio, grown in the lab with a constant diet. In both species, body stoichiometry varied considerably along the life cycle. Larval gizzard shad and zebrafish had higher molar C:P and N:P ratios than larger fish. Variation in body nutrient ratios was driven mainly by body P, which increased with size. Gizzard shad body calcium content was highly correlated with P content, indicating that ontogenetic P variation is associated with bone formation. Similar trends in body stoichiometry of zebrafish, grown under constant diet in the laboratory, suggest that ontogeny (e.g. bone formation) and not diet shift is the main factor affecting fish body stoichiometry in larval and juvenile stages. The N:P ratio of nutrient excretion also varied ontogenetically in gizzard shad, but the decline from larvae to juveniles appears to be largely associated with variation in the N:P of alternative food resources (zooplankton vs detritus) rather than by fish body N:P. Furthermore, the N:P ratio of larval gizzard shad excretion appears to be driven more by the N:P ratio at which individuals allocate nutrients to growth, more so than static body N:P, further illustrating the need to consider ontogenetic variation. Our results thus show that fish exhibit considerable ontogenetic variation in body stoichiometry, driven by an inherent increase in the relative allocation of P to bones, whereas ontogenetic variation in excretion N:P ratio of gizzard shad is driven more by variation in food N:P than by body N:P.Stoichiometric models in ecology often assume that consumer species are homeostatic with respect to body nutrients (Sterner 1990, Hanson et al. 1997, Schindler and Eby 1997. However, some species show ontogenetic changes in, or at least some variation in, body nutrients, and the consequences of such changes are poorly known. There is evidence that some invertebrates show ontogenetic changes in body stoichiometry, and this variation appears to be affected by growth rates and diet. For example, in copepods Villar-Argaiz et al. (2000) found a gradual decrease in body P as individuals grew. They also found that the increase of C and N with size was affected by growth rate. Hessen (1990) found that juvenile Daphnia magna had more body P than did adults, probably due to the high growth rate experienced by small bodied organisms (the growth rate hypothesis; Elser et al. 2000). Diet might also have an important effect on the organism's body composition. For example, DeMott et al. (1998), and DeMott and Pape (2005 demonstrated that P deficient diets can affect growth rate and body P content of daphniids. In insects, Frost and Elser (2002) found a negative relationship between body size and body P content, and this relationship was, as in...

The central provinces of Argentina are characterized by the presence of a high number of shallow lakes, located in endorheic basins, many of which have elevated salinities as well as eutrophic or hypereutrophic condition. The zooplankton of four saline shallow lakes of the province of La Pampa was studied on a monthly basis during a 2-year period to determine its temporal and spatial variation.The surface of these shallow lakes (< 2.5 m depth) varied between 56.8 and 215.9 ha, and some have from 8.4 to 20.8 g · l -1 . The more saline lakes have "clear" water and the less saline lakes "turbid" water. Fishes, Jenynsia multidentata, were present in only two lakes during the last two months of the studied period.The zooplankton was composed of 17 taxa of Rotifera, 5 taxa of Cladocera and 4 taxa of Copepoda. The low diversity and the faunistic composition are characteristic of saline environments. Although the studied lakes share 38% of the species, the faunistic similarity was higher between the two least saline lakes. The lowest diversity was found in the two most saline lakes.All four shallow lakes were characterized by their very high zooplankton density, especially in the least saline lakes (< 80000 ind · l -1 ). The abundance is significantly correlated with the water transparency but not with salinity.The zooplankton temporal variation was characterized by the alternation of macro-and microzooplankton, probably regulated by competition and intrazooplanktonic predation. In each lake, the spatial abundance distribution of the macro-and microzooplankton was homogeneous. It was related to the shallow depht of the lakes and their polymictic condition.The SCHEFFER model on alternative states in shallow lakes acknowledges that it cannot be applied to saline lakes because Daphnia, the main responsible for the clear water state, is not tolerant to high salinity. Our study shows that the most saline lakes, where the halophylic Daphnia menucoensis is abundant, have also the most clear waters. Another difference that we found with regards to the mentioned model is that, in turbid lakes, it could not have had a top-down control on macrozooplankton exerted by fishes because in these lakes fishes were practically absent.

A variety of interacting physical, chemical, and biological hypotheses have been proposed to explain the formation of deep chlorophyll layers (DCL). We used an experiment to test the importance of zooplankton grazing and nutrient transport as factors maintaining the DCL. In oligotrophic Yellow Belly Lake (Sawtooth Mountains, central Idaho), which has a DCL, we compared changes in the chlorophyll profiles in 17-m-deep limnocorrals with and without crustacean zooplankton.15 N ammonia and rhodamine dye were added to the epilimnion or metalimnion of the corrals to measure nutrient transport and diffusivity. In the limnocorrals with zooplankton, epilimnetic macrozooplankton biomass was 2ϫ higher and estimated grazing rates were 1.8ϫ higher than those in the metalimnion. After 11 d, chlorophyll levels in the zooplankton treatment declined 72% in the epilimnion but only 53% in the metalimnion, leading to the maintenance of the DCL. In the treatment without zooplankton, the epilimnetic chlorophyll increased 11% and the metalimnetic algal levels decreased 41%, resulting in the formation of an epilimnetic chlorophyll maxima. Biologically mediated movement of 15 N from the epilimnion and metalimnion was downward, into either the metalimnion or the hypolimnion. Turbulent movement measured with rhodamine was high in the limnocorrals, and presumably 15 N also moved into adjoining strata through this process. Grazing, however, coupled with a downward movement of nutrients via sedimentation into the lower strata appears to explain the persistence of the DCL.

Abstract. Consumers in aquatic food webs can be supported by terrestrial and aquatic primary production. However, we know little about how allochthony, i.e., the proportion of consumer biomass derived from terrestrial organic matter, varies along environmental gradients. Using hydrogen isotopes (deuterium), we quantified allochthony of an ecologically dominant detritivorous fish species (gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepedianum) in reservoir ecosystems, along a gradient of watershed land use (agriculture vs. forest). We predicted that allochthony would decline with an increase in the proportion of watershed land composed of agriculture (% agriculture). This is based on the supposition that as % agriculture increases, so does the export of dissolved inorganic nutrients to lakes, stimulating algal production and reducing the importance of terrestrial organic carbon subsidies. Allochthony accounted for ;34% of gizzard shad production (mean of 11 lakes), although this fraction varied greatly (0-68%) among lakes and isotope mixing model assumptions. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found no relationship between allochthony and % agriculture. However, allochthony was inversely related to total watershed area, as well as the absolute area of the watershed (rather than the percentage) composed of agriculture. We speculate that watershed area and allochthony are negatively correlated because watershed area exerts a strong control on the relative subsidies of dissolved inorganic nutrients vs. particulate organic carbon. Gizzard shad biomass was positively related to phytoplankton primary production but negatively related to allochthony, suggesting that phytodetritus is a higher quality resource than terrestrial detritus. Overall, our results show that both autochthonous and allochthonous carbon fuel the production of this ecologically important detritivore, the relative importance of allochthony decreases with increasing watershed size, and variation in gizzard shad production is closely tied to variation in autochthonous primary production.