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dc.contributor.authorJardine, TD
dc.contributor.authorHunt, RJ
dc.contributor.authorFaggotter, SJ
dc.contributor.authorValdez, D
dc.contributor.authorBurford, MA
dc.contributor.authorBunn, SE
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-03T11:34:29Z
dc.date.available2017-05-03T11:34:29Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.date.modified2014-08-28T22:17:03Z
dc.identifier.issn1535-1459
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/rra.2554
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/48625
dc.description.abstractThe identification of the dominant sources of carbon supporting consumer biomass in aquatic food webs is often difficult but essential to understanding the limits to aquatic secondary production. Stable isotope analysis (SIA) is a powerful tool to estimate the contribution of different sources to consumers, but most food web studies using this approach limit analyses to a few key consumer taxa rather than measuring biomass-weighted contribution of sources to the entire community. Here we combined stable isotope analysis with standardized measurements of abundance and biomass of fishes and invertebrates in seven waterholes of a wet-dry tropical river sampled early and late in the dry season. We showed that periphyton (as opposed to phytoplankton and terrestrial C3 plant detritus) was responsible formost standing fish biomass (range 42%-97%), whereas benthic invertebrateswere reliant on a mixture of the three sources (range 26%-100%). Furthermore, larger, older fishes at high trophic levels (catfish Neoarius spp., sleepy cod Oxyeleotris lineaolatus and barramundi Lates calcarifer) were supported almost exclusively by periphyton. Phytoplankton and detritus supported a considerable biomass of benthic and pelagic invertebrates, but only in taxa that occupied low trophic levels (e.g. snails). These measurements provide further evidence that although periphyton is relatively inconspicuous relative to other sources, it contributes disproportionately to metazoan biomass in wet-dry tropical rivers.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.description.publicationstatusYes
dc.format.extent357026 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherJohn Wiley & Sons Ltd.
dc.publisher.placeUnited Kingdom
dc.relation.ispartofstudentpublicationN
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom560
dc.relation.ispartofpageto573
dc.relation.ispartofissue5
dc.relation.ispartofjournalRiver Research and Applications
dc.relation.ispartofvolume29
dc.rights.retentionY
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEcology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchFreshwater ecology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEnvironmental engineering
dc.subject.fieldofresearchHydrology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEnvironmental management
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode3103
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode310304
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode4011
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode3707
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode4104
dc.titleCarbon from periphyton supports fish biomass in waterholes of a wet-dry tropical river
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
gro.facultyGriffith Sciences, Griffith School of Environment
gro.rights.copyright© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Carbon from periphyton supports fish biomass in waterholes of a wet-dry tropical river, River Research and Applications, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.2554.
gro.date.issued2013
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorBunn, Stuart E.
gro.griffith.authorBurford, Michele A.


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