Carbon-isotope ratio gradients in western arctic zooplankton

Saupe, S. M.; Schell, Donald M.; Griffiths, William

doi:10.1007/bf00399574

Cited by 72 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…This may corroborate speculation that Little or no low-latitude feeding is conducted by Arctic terns during their journey between residences in the highlatitude Northern and Southern Hemispheres (Watson 1975), where 13C-and lSN-depleted food bases are characteristic (e.g. Rau et al 1982, Wada et al 1987, Schell & Ziemann 1988, Saupe et al 1989.…”

Section: "~ Measurementssupporting

confidence: 73%

15N/14N and 13C/12C in Weddell Sea birds, seals, and fish: implications for diet and trophic structure

Rau¹,

Ainley²,

Bengston³

et al. 1992

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

182

128

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b13C, 6I5N, and C/N were measured for each of 247 muscle tlssue samples from 12 blrd, 4 seal, and 4 fish species collected In the Weddell Sea primanly d u n n g March 1986 ht3C values ranged flom -31 3 to -22 O%o and, in the case of f~s h and seal san~ples, varied inversely with C/N T h~s ~m p l~e d that l~p i d concentratlon s~gn~ficantly influenced these vertebrate hI3C measurements No such relat~on-shlp was found between C/N and bI5N where the latter values ranged from + 4 4 to + l 1 2 % w~t h cons~derable overlap among many of the taxonomic groups measured Notable exceptions to thls were found in the Wilson s storm-petrel and the Kerguelan petrel, among whlch elevated bl'N values of some lndivlduals probably reflected feeding outslde of the Weddell Sea Significant feedlng on vertebrate biomass was ~n d~c a t e d by the 15N enrichment of the southern giant fulmar and several snow petrel ind~viduals Some d~e t separation among crabeater, Antarct~c fur, leopard, and Ross seals was also evldent Nevertheless, the overlap In hI5N among most Weddell Sea vertebrates, coupled with an observed range of vertebrate values that was considerably narrower than that of t h e~r potent~al pley supports the hypothesis that many of these h~g h e r consumers share a small number of common food resources and trophlc levels

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Section: "~ Measurementssupporting

confidence: 73%

15N/14N and 13C/12C in Weddell Sea birds, seals, and fish: implications for diet and trophic structure

Rau¹,

Ainley²,

Bengston³

et al. 1992

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

182

128

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show abstract

“…Use of these data to represent dietary proportions throughout the eastern Beaufort Sea in summer is subject to uncertainty about local and temporal variations, differential digestion, etc. However, net tow-data from Saupe et al (1989) and other sources indicate that the zooplankton of the eastern Beaufort Sea is dominated by calanoid copepods with few euphausiids, generally consistent with the prey in the bowhead stomachs examined at Kaktovik. The reverse is true for bowheads harvested near Barrow, where euphausiids have dominated the stomach contents in fall and (in recent years) spring (Lowry 1993, Lowry et al in press).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 57%

Regional and seasonal feeding by bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus as indicated by stable isotope ratios

Lee¹,

Schell²,

McDonald³

et al. 2005

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

152

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“…The premise that the isotopic record is environmental in origin and not due to physiological responses in the whale is supported by the close agreement in isotope ratios between multiple whales, adult and subadult, for a given year. The zooplankton prey of the Beaufort Sea north of Canada where the whales spend the summer have much lower ␦ 13 C values (Saupe et al 1989;Schell et al 1998) and constitute the remainder of the record. Adult whales derive only a minor fraction of their food from the Eastern Beaufort Sea based upon muscle tissue isotope ratios (Schell and Saupe 1993), and there is little correlation between the isotope records for that region between whales.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Declining carrying capacity in the Bering Sea: Isotopic evidence from whale baleen

Schell

2000

Limnology & Oceanography

142

127

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The Bering Sea is a rich marine ecosystem with 1995 U.S. landings of finfish and shellfish in excess of 2 × 106 tons. Recently, major declines of marine mammal and bird populations have occurred, with the question arising as to whether the causes were top down, i.e., from fishing pressure, or bottom‐up, i.e., driven by climate‐change effects. We assessed the latter scenario by using the inverse relationship between phytoplankton cell‐growth rates and carbon isotope fractionation to compare seasonal rates of primary productivity. The isotope ratios in the long baleen plates from bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) laid down while the whales fed in the Bering and Chukchi seas were used as a proxy for the average annual isotope ratios in their zooplankton prey and, by extension, phytoplankton. Plates from 37 whales produced a continuous isotopic record from 1947‐1997 and indicate that seasonal productivity was higher in 1947‐1976, peaking in 1966. Since that time, average d13C values have declined by over 2.7‰ until 1997, inferring a drop in seasonal carbon fixation of ∼‐40%. Alternatively, lowered isotope ratios could arise if phytoplankton stocks significantly increased over time while cell‐growth rates declined. However, long‐term literature estimates for phytoplankton in the Western and Eastern Pacific Ocean and Eastern Bering Sea show either no trend or a decrease over time. Archaeological samples of baleen from ca. 100 and 2,200 yr. B.P. showed average d13C values higher than any in the last five decades, implying still higher productivity in the past. The lowered carrying capacity is a likely contributor to the decline of top consumers in the region.

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Carbon-isotope ratio gradients in western arctic zooplankton

Cited by 72 publications

References 12 publications

15N/14N and 13C/12C in Weddell Sea birds, seals, and fish: implications for diet and trophic structure

15N/14N and 13C/12C in Weddell Sea birds, seals, and fish: implications for diet and trophic structure

Regional and seasonal feeding by bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus as indicated by stable isotope ratios

Declining carrying capacity in the Bering Sea: Isotopic evidence from whale baleen

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