1. Trophic ecology of midwater zooplankton along a productivity gradient in the Southeast Pacific
- Author
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Fernández-Urruzola, Igor, Bode, Antonio, Loick-Wilde, Natalie, Schneider, Wolfgang, Lindsay, Dhugal, Escribano, Ruben, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (Chile), Instituto Milenio de Oceanografía (Chile), and Bode, Antonio
- Subjects
Global and Planetary Change ,Ocean Engineering ,Aquatic Science ,Oceanography ,Water Science and Technology - Abstract
The environmental regulation of planktonic food web structure is a key determinant for the efficiency of energy transfer through trophic levels, with direct implications for the amount of energy that is available to top-consumers and deep-sea communities. Yet, the complex trophic interplay between the different components of plankton communities under contrasting environmental conditions remains unresolved. Here, we present a comprehensive field study based on compound-specific isotope analysis of amino acids that aims to explore depth-resolved changes in the trophic strategies of various size-classes of mesozooplankton from distinct habitats across the Southeast Pacific. According to the δ15N values of the so-called source amino acids such as phenylalanine, we first identified a clear shift in nitrogen sources for biological production, from nitrate in the productive upwelling waters of the Humboldt Current System to increased inputs of diazotroph-N within the ultra-oligotrophic South Pacific gyre. These shifts in the productivity and in the source of N at the base of the food web were not accompanied by significant changes in the trophic position (TP) of mesozooplankton, which were mainly omnivores (TP = 2.8 ± 0.3, n = 65) in all ecoregions. However, although the planktonic food web length remained relatively unaltered along the productivity gradient, the microbial contribution to mid-trophic level consumers appeared to be more important at relatively high productivities, likely due to more intense remineralization processes in a late successional stage of the upwelling throughout the coastal-transition zone. Altogether, this research work will contribute to a better understanding of the food web functioning in one of the least explored marine regions of the world's oceans., IF-U was supported by ANID-FONDECYT research projects 3180352 and 11221079 during the field sampling and the writing process, respectively. CSIA-AA analyses were partially funded by ANID-REDES 10039 and ANID-FONDECYT 1181682 projects granted to RE. The authors also acknowledge support from the Millennium Institute of Oceanography (IMO) of ANID Chile (Grant ICN12_019).
- Published
- 2023