Resource subsidies from adfluvial fishes increase stream productivity

Summary Anadromous fishes are well known to shape the structure and function of recipient ecosystems by introducing nutrients and rich organic matter from the ocean. In contrast, the importance of potamodromous migrations, confined to freshwater, and the subsidies they provide to stream ecosystems h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Freshwater biology 2016-06, Vol.61 (6), p.991-1005
Main Authors: Jones, Nicholas E., Mackereth, Robert W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ammonium
ammonium compounds
anadromous fish
aquatic food webs
Benthic fauna
Biomass
Biota
carbon
Catostomus
Catostomus catostomus
Catostomus commersonii
Cupressus
dead animals
diet
Downstream
ecosystems
Eggs
energy
equations
Excretion
fragmentation
Freshwater
Growing season
invertebrates
lakes
Life history
Marine
Marine ecosystems
Microorganisms
migratory fish
milt
mortality
nitrogen
Nutrient sources
nutrients
Oncorhynchus gorbuscha
Organic matter
potamodromous fish
Rivers
Salmon
Salmonidae
Spawning
Spawning migrations
Stable isotopes
statistical models
streams
subsidies
subsidy
trophic
Upstream
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:Summary Anadromous fishes are well known to shape the structure and function of recipient ecosystems by introducing nutrients and rich organic matter from the ocean. In contrast, the importance of potamodromous migrations, confined to freshwater, and the subsidies they provide to stream ecosystems has received much less attention. Our objective was to determine the importance of excretion, eggs, milt, and carcasses as nutrient and energy sources from a large population (82 449 suckers) of migrating longnose (Catostomus catostomus) and common white (Catostomus commersonii) suckers into a small (wetted width c. 10 m) oligotrophic river system. We hypothesise that the adfluvial suckers provide a large material subsidy that increased the productivity of the Cypress River and that this resource subsidy rivals or exceeds those delivered by other native and non‐native fishes (e.g. Pacific salmonids). In total there was an estimated 5635 kg of eggs, 2025 kg of milt, and 1 kg of carcasses from suckers that spawn in the Cypress River. Relative to other mainly non‐native fishes, suckers provided 92% of the annual egg biomass and 95% of the milt. Suckers, however, only provided
ISSN:0046-5070
1365-2427
DOI:10.1111/fwb.12762