Broad Whitefish (Coregonus nasus) isotopic niches: Stable isotopes reveal diverse foraging strategies and habitat use in Arctic Alaska.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the ecological niche of some fishes is complicated by their frequent use of a broad range of food resources and habitats across space and time. Little is known about Broad Whitefish (Coregonus nasus) ecological niches in Arctic landscapes even though they are an important subsistence species for Alaska's Indigenous communities. We investigated the foraging ecology and habitat use of Broad Whitefish via stable isotope analyses of muscle and liver tissue and otoliths from mature fish migrating in the Colville River within Arctic Alaska. The range of δ13C (-31.8- -21.9‰) and δ15N (6.6-13.1‰) across tissue types and among individuals overlapped with isotope values previously observed in Arctic lakes and rivers, estuaries, and nearshore marine habitat. The large range of δ18O (4.5

SUBMITTER: Leppi JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9321764 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature