Dietary habits and intra- and inter-specific trophic ecology of co-occurring Lepidotrigla mulhalli and L. vanessa from south-eastern Australia were analysed using stomach content and stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N). Both species are bottom-feeding carnivores that consumed mainly benthic crustaceans, but teleosts were also abundant in the diet of larger L. vanessa. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) ordination and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) of dietary data revealed significant inter-specific dietary differences; i.e. food resource partitioning. Carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope values were similar between L. mulhalli and L. vanessa, however, suggesting similar trophic positioning. Ontogenetic changes in diet composition and stable isotope values were evident. As L. vanessa grew, they preyed upon larger individuals, such as teleosts and caridean shrmips, but no such trend was observed in the diets of L. mulhalli. Adults of both species were significantly enriched in 15N relative to juvenile conspecifics thus supporting these data. Consequently, in this study, both methodologies, i.e. stomach content and stable isotope analyses, provided evidence of inter- and/or intra-specific dietary segregations and trophic niche partitioning between co-occurring L. mulhalli and L. vanessa off Tasmanian waters.

This study experimentally determined the impact of food source type on turnover rate and trophic enrichment factors (TEFs or ∆) of δ13C and δ15N, as well as on respiration rate, in captive populations of the marine amphipod Gammarus aequicauda. Gammarus aequicauda (318 individuals) were fed ad libitum with three food sources animal, algae, and dead Posidonia oceanica leaves (also called “litter”), varying in palatability, digestibility , nutritional qualities and isotopic compositions, for between four and six weeks in a controlled feeding experiment. The resulting death rate was lower for the amphipods fed with animal treatment (30.9%) than for individuals fed with algal (65.9%) or litter treatment (64.4%), indicating a better fitness of the individuals fed with the animal food source. Respiration rates also differed highly among the treatments. Animal treatment showed higher respiration rates than algal and litter treatments, potentially due to the toxicity of the algae and the very low nutritional quality of the litter. Amphipods fed with these treatments might have entered in a “low activity state” to cope with these unsuitable food sources, inducing low respiration rates. Due to the very low assimilation and toxicity of the algae source, turnover rate for δ13C was impossible to determine. Turnover rate for δ13C was much faster (half-life=12.55days) for amphipods fed with the animal food source than for amphipods fed with litter (half-life=51.62days), showing the faster assimilation of the most nutritionally optimal food sources by G. aequicauda. Turnover for δ15N was impossible to determine because the amphipods were already at isotopic equilibrium at the beginning of the experiment. Despite the detritus feeder status of Gammarus aequicauda, TEFs for the animal treatments were in accordance with values generally found for carnivorous organisms (∆13C=0.9±0.7‰; ∆15N=2.9±0.6‰). TEFs for the litter treatment were in accordance with values generally corresponding to detritivorous organisms (∆13C=1.2‰; ∆15N=1.0±0.4‰). SIAR mixing model outputs obtained with these new TEF values were more constrained and coherent than outputs obtained with general literature TEFs. This study thus demonstrated the non-negligible impact of the food source on Gammarus aequicauda physiological status, fitness and turnover rates, but also on TEFs—highlighting the importance of TEF experimental calculations for every potential food source of a given organism to ensure more robust isotopic data interpretation.

The jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas plays an important role in marine food webs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, as not only a voracious predator but also a valuable prey source. In this study, the proostracum (a morphological part of the gladius) from 45 samples were selected over three years and were serially sampled based on growth information obtained from the statolith. The δ13C and δ15N values along the proostracum were used to reconstruct the feeding variations of D. gigas and to evaluate the potential effects of 2009–10 El Niño event on the variability of their trophic patterns. The results show a strong variation in δ13C and δ15N values along the proostracum for all the squid; changes that could be determined by temporal variation of foraging as well as migration among regions with distinct baselines. An El Niño event could decrease the variation of trophic patterns of squid through compressing the space and time for foraging and migration. These results support our general hypothesis that a time-based consecutive sampling of the gladius can back-calculate an ontogenetic shift and the possible migration patterns of squids more precisely and comprehensively and suggest that the isotopic values of D.gigas might be influenced much more by their migration behavior.

Ten locations in the Notranjska region, Slovenia, with different land use in the catchment (town, village and agricultural areas), including reference points with different geological composition considered as unpolluted sites, were sampled for water and aquatic moss to evaluate environmental assessment in fresh water systems of the Sava River watershed. Samples of fresh water and Fontinalis antipyretica were taken in all four seasons during the years 2010 and 2012. The water chemistry of the investigated locations was dominated by HCO− 3 − Ca2+ − Mg2+, while concentrations of NO− 3 seasonally ranged from 2.1 to 6.4 mg L−1 and at one of the reference sites did not exceed 1.3 mg L−1. δ13CDIC values seasonally ranged from − 13.3 to − 8.1 ‰ and indicated waters dominated by degradation of organic matter and dissolution of carbonates. δ13Cplant values of F. antipyretica seasonally ranged from − 45 to − 32.9 ‰ and of δ15Nplant from − 0.2 to 6.5 ‰. The higher δ15N value of 6.5 ‰ found in F. antipyretica was related to agricultural activity in the watershed. The content of minor and trace elements in F. antipyretica ranged from 4–38 µg g−1 for Ni, 17–105 µg g−1 for Zn, 2–28 µg g−1 for Pb, 0.26–1.95 µg g−1 for Cd, 4–27 µg g−1 for Cu, 4–49 µg g−1 for Cr, 1–6 µg g−1 for As and 0.33–3.24 µg g−1 for Se. The most polluted watershed was the Pšata stream (agricultural area, cattle farm with the highest concentration of nitrate in water) also with highest values for Ni, Cr, Pb, Zn and As.

The dominant plant species of European heathlands Calluna vulgaris is considered vulnerable to drought and enhanced nitrogen (N) loads. However, impacts may vary across the distribution range of Calluna heathlands. We tested the hypothesis that Calluna of southern and eastern marginal populations (MP) are more resistant to drought events than plants of central populations (CP), and that this is mainly due to trait differences such as biomass allocation patterns. Furthermore, we hypothesised that N fertilisation can offset differences in drought susceptibility between CP and MP. We conducted a full-factorial 2-year greenhouse experiment with Calluna plants of CP and MP and quantified growth responses in terms of biomass production, allocation and tissue δ13C signatures. Biomass production, shoot–root ratios and tissue δ13C values of 1-year-old plants were higher for CP than for MP, indicating a higher drought susceptibility of CP. These trait differences were not observed for 2-year-old plants. N fertilisation increased shoot–root ratios of 1- and 2-year-old plants and across populations due to a stimulation of the aboveground biomass allocation. As a consequence, population-related differences in drought susceptibility were offset for N-fertilised plants. We concluded that Calluna plants originating from different populations developed adaptive traits to local climates, which determined their drought sensitivity. However, the higher drought resistance of MP can be attenuated by an N-induced increase in shoot–root ratios. This suggests that analyses on plant growth responses to global change should include multi-factor approaches with a focus on different populations throughout a species’ distribution range.

Cultural eutrophication caused by nutrient over-enrichment in coastal waters will lead to a cascading set of ecosystem changes and deleterious ecological consequences, such as harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxia. During the past two decades since the late 1990s, recurrent large-scale HABs (red tides) and an extensive hypoxic zone have been reported in the coastal waters adjacent to the Changjiang River estuary. To retrieve the history of eutrophication and its associated ecosystem changes, a sediment core was collected from the “red-tide zone” adjacent to the Changjiang River estuary. The core was dated using the 210Pb radioisotope and examined for multiple proxies, including organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), stable isotopes of C and N, and plant pigments. An apparent up-core increase of OC content was observed after the 1970s, accompanied by a rapid increase of TN. The concurrent enrichment of δ13C and increase of the C/N ratio suggested the accumulation of organic matter derived from marine primary production during this stage. The accumulation of OC after the 1970s well reflected the significant increase of primary production in the red-tide zone and probably the intensification of hypoxia as well. Plant pigments, including chlorophyll a, β-carotene, and diatoxanthin, showed similar patterns of variation to OC throughout the core, which further confirmed the important contribution of microalgae, particularly diatoms, to the deposited organic matter. Based on the variant profiles of the pigments representative of different microalgal groups, the potential changes of the phytoplankton community since the 1970s were discussed.

Stable isotope analysis (SIA) provides a powerful tool to investigate diverse ecological questions for marine species, but standardized values are required for comparative assessments. For elasmobranchs, their unique osmoregulatory strategy involves retention of (15) N-depleted urea in body tissues and this may bias δ(15) N values. This may be a particular problem for large predatory species, where δ(15) N discrimination between predator and consumed prey can be small. METHODS: We evaluated three treatments (deionized water rinsing [DW], chloroform/methanol [LE] and combined chloroform/methanol and deionized water rinsing [LE+DW]) applied to white muscle tissue of 125 individuals from seven pelagic shark species to (i) assess urea and lipid effects on stable isotope values determined by IRMS and (ii) investigate mathematical normalization of these values. RESULTS: For all species examined, the δ(15) N values and C:N ratios increased significantly following all three treatments, identifying that urea removal is required prior to SIA of pelagic sharks. The more marked change in δ(15) N values following DW (1.3 ± 0.4‰) and LE+DW (1.2 ± 0.6‰) than following LE alone (0.7 ± 0.4‰) indicated that water rinsing was more effective at removing urea. The DW and LE+DW treatments lowered the %N values, resulting in an increase in C:N ratios from the unexpected low values of