Stable isotope analysis of benthic fauna and their food sources in boreal lakes

• The origin of organic C supporting zoobenthic communities in 8 boreal lakes with different concentrations of dissolved organic C (DOC) was assessed by stable-isotope analysis. Profundal zoobenthos was depleted in C-13 compared to littoral zoobenthos, and this difference increased with decreasing DOC concentration. The delta C-13 of littoral zoobenthos suggested reliance on benthic algae, whereas depleted C-13 of profundal zoobenthos could be explained by contributions from allochthonous and autochthonous C sources. In deeper lakes, profundal zoobenthos diets also included C processed by methanotrophic bacteria. Littoral zoobenthos delta C-13 decreased with increasing DOC concentration in the lake water. Our results suggest that littoral benthic fauna are mainly supported by benthic algae in low-DOC lakes and by phytoplankton and allochthonous organic C in high-DOC lakes and that this difference is a result of light absorbance and energy supply by allochthonous organic C. Increasing allochthonous DOC inputs, as expected in a warmer and wetter climate, might reduce benthic algal production and alter the organic C base for benthic food webs in lake ecosystems.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Ekologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Ecology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

autochthonous

allochthonous

dissolved organic C

stable isotopes

boreal lakes

Freshwater ecology

Limnisk ekologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)