Stable isotopic survey of the role of macrophytes in the carbon flow of aquatic foodwebs

✍ Scribed by France, R. L.

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 475 KB
• Volume: 124
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-5052
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00045145

✦ Synopsis

Whether aquatic animals rely primarily for sustenance upon vascular macrophytes or attached algae has been often debated. A compilation of carbon isotope data from the literature for coastal seagrass meadows, estuarine salt marshes, and freshwater lakes and rivers indicates that animal 613C values more closely approximate those of attached algae than they do those of vascular plants. This empirical synthesis supports results from individual studies in suggesting that macrophytes are unlikely to play an exclusive and direct dietary role in aquatic foodwebs.

'Contrary to conventional wisdom, live macrophytes are engaged in aquatic food webs' -Lodge 1991 'There is little doubt that senescent macrophytes and macrophyte detritus are important foods ' -Newman 1991