Trophic structure of common marine species in the Bohai Strait, North China Sea, based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios

•Stable isotopes were used as tracers to analyze trophic structure in the Bohai Strait.•We built two trophic level models on basis of nitrogen isotope and compared them.•The principal food sources were identified in the study area. Trophic relationships among common coastal species in the Bohai Stra...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological indicators 2016-07, Vol.66, p.405-415
Main Authors: Qu, Pei, Wang, Qixiang, Pang, Min, Zhang, Zhipeng, Liu, Chengyue, Tang, Xuexi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthocidaris crassispina
Asterias
Asterias amurensis
Bohai Strait
carbon
Chelon
Chelon affinis
ecological restoration
fish
fisheries
Food source
habitats
macroalgae
Marine
nitrogen
Notoacmea
oceans
Oregonia gracilis
phytoplankton
sediments
shellfish
Stable isotopes
tracer techniques
Trophic level
trophic relationships
Ulva
Ulva conglobata
Zostera marina
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:•Stable isotopes were used as tracers to analyze trophic structure in the Bohai Strait.•We built two trophic level models on basis of nitrogen isotope and compared them.•The principal food sources were identified in the study area. Trophic relationships among common coastal species in the Bohai Strait, North China Sea, were investigated in this study using stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) as tracers. During the research cruises of this study, 16 species of invertebrates and 18 species of fishes were collected, as were various food sources (phytoplankton, macroalgae, and sediment). The carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of all collected samples were measured and used for trophic level analyses. The results showed that the grazers Oregonia gracilis, Notoacmea schrenckii, Chlorostoma rustica, and Chelon affinis, preferentially consumed Zostera marina (p
ISSN:1470-160X
1872-7034
DOI:10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.01.036