- Title
- Stable isotope methods: the effect of gut contents on isotopic ratios of zooplankton
- Creator
- Hill, Jaclyn M, McQuaid, Christopher D
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2011
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/444623
- Identifier
- vital:74255
- Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2011.02.002
- Description
- In the past decade there has been an increased awareness of the potential for methodological bias resulting from multiple pre-analytical procedures in foodweb interpretations based on stable isotope techniques. In the case of small organisms, this includes the effect of gut contents on whole body signatures. Although gut contents may not reflect actual assimilation, their carbon and nitrogen values will be isotopically lighter than after the same material has been assimilated. The potential skewing of isotopic ratios in whole organism samples is especially important for aquatic environments as many studies involve trophic relationships among small zooplankton. This is particularly important in pelagic waters, where herbivorous zooplankton comprise small taxa. Hence this study investigated the effect of gut contents on the δ13C and δ15N ratios of three size classes of zooplankton (1.0–2.0, 2.0–4.0 and >4.0mm) collected using bongo net tows in the tropical waters of the south-west Indian Ocean. Animals were collected at night, when they were likely to be feeding, sieved into size classes and separated into genera. We focused on Euphausia spp which dominated zooplankton biomass. Three treatment types were processed: bulk animals, bulk animals without guts and tail muscle from each size class at 10 bongo stations.
- Format
- 6 pages, pdf
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Hill, J.M. and McQuaid, C.D., 2011. Stable isotope methods: the effect of gut contents on isotopic ratios of zooplankton. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 92(3), pp.480-485, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science volume 92 number 3 480 485 2011 1096-0015
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Elsevier Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.elsevier.com/legal/elsevier-website-terms-and-conditions)
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Hill, Jaclyn Marie (Ms)
McQuaid, Christopher D (Distinguished Professor)
RU DST/NRF SARChI for Marine Ecosystems and Resources
RU Department of Zoology and Entomology
SDG 14. Life Below Water
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
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| View Details | SOURCE1 | Stable isotope methods.pdf | 642 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |