Characterizing niche differentiation among marine consumers with amino acid δ¹³C fingerprinting.

ABSTRACT: Marine food webs are highly compartmentalized, and characterizing the trophic niches among consumers is important for predicting how impact from human activities affects the structuring and functioning of marine food webs. Biomarkers such as bulk stable isotopes have proven to be powerful tools to elucidate trophic niches, but they may lack in resolution, particularly when spatiotemporal variability in a system is high. To close this gap, we investigated whether carbon isotope (δ¹³C) patterns of essential amino acids (EAAs), also termed δ¹³C_AA fingerprints, can characterize niche differentiation in a highly dynamic marine system. Specifically, we tested the ability of δ¹³C_AA fingerprints to differentiate trophic niches among six functi

SUBMITTER: Larsen T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7391304 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature