Food sources used by sediment meiofauna in an intertidal Zostera noltii seagrass bed: a seasonal stable isotope study

Lebreton, Benoît; Richard, Pierre; Galois, Robert; Radenac, Gilles; Brahmia, Amel; Colli, Géraldine; Grouazel, Marig; André, Cyril; Guillou, Gaël; Blanchard, Gérard

doi:10.1007/s00227-012-1940-7

Cited by 54 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…This is in accordance with the diet of copepods in P. oceanica meadow sediments (Danovaro et al, 2002), Zostera noltii meadow sediments (Lebreton et al, 2012;Vafeiadou et al, 2014), and in salt marshes (Couch, 1989), or in Amphibolis sp. and Posidonia spp.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Seasonal dependence on seagrass detritus and trophic niche partitioning in four copepod eco-morphotypes

et al. 2018

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Benthic copepods dominate meiofaunal communities from marine phytodetritus, both in terms of numerical abundance and species diversity. Nevertheless, ecological factors driving copepod co-existence and population dynamics are still largely unknown. Here, we aimed to explore feeding habits of four copepod species commonly found in Mediterranean seagrass detritus accumulations, representing distinct eco-morphotypes (planktonic, phytal, epibenthic and mesopsammic). Joint use of fatty acid and stable isotope trophic markers showed that co-occurring harpacticoid copepods have diversified diets. Contrary to what was expected, microphytobenthos does not serve as their main food source. Instead, we found evidence from both techniques that major food items include heterotrophic biomass, macro-epiphytes and, depending on eco-morphology and season, of seagrass detritus-derived organic matter. Isotopic niches suggested that eco-morphotypes showed resource segregation. This segregation varies temporally, and partial overlap occurs between niches of phytal and epibenthic eco-morphotypes in some seasons. Our results highlight that, contrary to what is often assumed for meiofaunal consumers, considerable trophic diversity exists among copepod assemblages. They also indicate that, through multiple non-exclusive possible mechanisms, copepods could constitute a major link between seagrass detritus and associated biomass and higher trophic levels (namely macroinvertebrates and juvenile fish).

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Seasonal dependence on seagrass detritus and trophic niche partitioning in four copepod eco-morphotypes

et al. 2018

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“…Olsen et al () reported that benthic invertebrates feed on seagrass in estuaries where the seagrass biomass is large relative to that of macroalgae. Additionally, Lebreton et al () reported a similar availability of seagrass as a diet resource for nematodes living several centimeters below the sediment surface. The consumption of seagrass‐derived organic matter by bacteria in surface sediments has also been suggested (Williams et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Trophic interaction among organisms in a seagrass meadow ecosystem as revealed by bulk δ¹³C and amino acid δ¹⁵N analyses

Choi

Lee

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

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Numerous studies have used stable isotope analysis (SIA) of carbon and nitrogen within the bulk tissues of organisms to determine the trophic structure among organisms in a food web. Recently, SIA has evolved to compound‐specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) of nitrogen within amino acids to significantly reduce the uncertainty in the estimated trophic position (TP) of organisms based on the isotopic difference between glutamic acid and phenylalanine within a single organism. However, because the initial offset (β) between glutamic acid and phenylalanine differs between aquatic algae (ca. +3.4‰) and vascular plants (ca. −8.4‰) in food webs that rely on both resources, β should be replaced by a value adapted to the admixture of primary producers for each specimen. In this study, we established a new method involving the β value (βmix) of each consumer specimen determined based on its bulk tissue δ13C value and successfully obtained realistic TPs (TPmix) for organisms in a complex seagrass meadow food web. Remarkable differences between the TPmix and traditional TPalgal values were found in deposit feeders due to the large contribution of seagrass to their basal resources. The estimated TPs of organisms increased by up to 1.5 units (from TPalgal to TPmix), in terms of trophic transfer, when their diets included substantial seagrass‐derived contributions. Thus, combinatorial analysis of the amino acid δ15N and specimen‐specific βmix values provides better understanding of the trophic interactions in food webs, even in complex seagrass meadow ecosystems.

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“…Less information is available for meiobenthos resource utilization in seagrass beds (Vizzini et al, 2000b(Vizzini et al, , 2002aBaeta et al, 2009;Leduc et al, 2009;Lebreton et al, 2011Lebreton et al, , 2012, with none of the studies including meiofauna at the level of feeding types, families, genera or species. The few studies using natural isotope abundances to unravel food resources of coastal meiofauna at this level (Carman and Fry, 2002;Moens et al, , 2005Moens et al, , 2013Rzeznik-Orignac et al, 2008) do not examine seagrass habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource utilization and trophic position of nematodes and harpacticoid copepods in and adjacent to <i>Zostera noltii</i> beds

et al. 2014

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Abstract. This study examines the resource use and trophic position of nematodes and harpacticoid copepods at the genus/species level in an estuarine food web in Zostera noltii beds and in adjacent bare sediments using the natural abundance of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. Microphytobenthos and/or epiphytes are among the main resources of most taxa, but seagrass detritus and sediment particulate organic matter contribute as well to meiobenthos nutrition, which are also available in deeper sediment layers and in unvegetated patches close to seagrass beds. A predominant dependence on chemoautotrophic bacteria was demonstrated for the nematode genus Terschellingia and the copepod family Cletodidae. A predatory feeding mode is illustrated for Paracomesoma and other Comesomatidae, which were previously considered first-level consumers (deposit feeders) according to their buccal morphology. The considerable variation found in both resource use and trophic level among nematode genera from the same feeding type, and even among congeneric nematode species, shows that the interpretation of nematode feeding ecology based purely on mouth morphology should be avoided.

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Food sources used by sediment meiofauna in an intertidal Zostera noltii seagrass bed: a seasonal stable isotope study

Cited by 54 publications

References 63 publications

Seasonal dependence on seagrass detritus and trophic niche partitioning in four copepod eco-morphotypes

Seasonal dependence on seagrass detritus and trophic niche partitioning in four copepod eco-morphotypes

Trophic interaction among organisms in a seagrass meadow ecosystem as revealed by bulk δ¹³C and amino acid δ¹⁵N analyses

Resource utilization and trophic position of nematodes and harpacticoid copepods in and adjacent to <i>Zostera noltii</i> beds

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Food sources used by sediment meiofauna in an intertidal Zostera noltii seagrass bed: a seasonal stable isotope study

Cited by 54 publications

References 63 publications

Seasonal dependence on seagrass detritus and trophic niche partitioning in four copepod eco-morphotypes

Seasonal dependence on seagrass detritus and trophic niche partitioning in four copepod eco-morphotypes

Trophic interaction among organisms in a seagrass meadow ecosystem as revealed by bulk δ13C and amino acid δ15N analyses

Resource utilization and trophic position of nematodes and harpacticoid copepods in and adjacent to &lt;i&gt;Zostera noltii&lt;/i&gt; beds

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Trophic interaction among organisms in a seagrass meadow ecosystem as revealed by bulk δ¹³C and amino acid δ¹⁵N analyses

Resource utilization and trophic position of nematodes and harpacticoid copepods in and adjacent to <i>Zostera noltii</i> beds