Dataset Information

Stable isotope mixing models demonstrate the role of an invasive plant in wetland songbird food webs.

ABSTRACT:

Premise

Invasive plants in wetlands are often ecosystem engineers, mediating changes in ecosystem functions like trophic support. We documented the impacts of Lepidium latifolium, an invasive plant, on the food web of omnivorous birds (Suisun song sparrows, Melospiza melodia maxillaris) in a tidal wetland of northern California, USA.

Methods

We used analysis of natural abundance stable isotopes of ¹³C and ¹⁵N in song sparrow blood, invertebrate food sources, L. latifolium seeds, and other marsh plant seeds to inform Bayesian, concentration-dependent mixing models that predicted average song sparrow diets.

Results

Season and plant phenology influenced food source incorporation and isotopic signatures. Song sparrows showed higher isotopic variability in the summer. The observed changes in song sparrow diets were driven by altered invertebrate communities related to seasonal L. latifolium presence and by shifts from seeds to consumption of invertebrate food sources during the breeding season in the spring and summer.

Discussion

This study used stable isotope tools and modeling to demonstrate two mechanisms of isotopic influence by L. latifolium on omnivorous song sparrows. This study can inform site- and species-specific management strategies by demonstrating how changes to the plant community can impact entire trophic systems.

SUBMITTER: Wigginton RD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9400394 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Stable isotope mixing models demonstrate the role of an invasive plant in wetland songbird food webs.

Wigginton Rachel D RD Van Grootheest Chloe C Spautz Hildie H Grenier J Letitia JL Whitcraft Christine R CR

Applications in plant sciences 20220726 4

<h4>Premise</h4>Invasive plants in wetlands are often ecosystem engineers, mediating changes in ecosystem functions like trophic support. We documented the impacts of <i>Lepidium latifolium</i>, an invasive plant, on the food web of omnivorous birds (Suisun song sparrows, <i>Melospiza melodia maxillaris</i>) in a tidal wetland of northern California, USA.<h4>Methods</h4>We used analysis of natural abundance stable isotopes of <sup>13</sup>C and <sup>15</sup>N in song sparrow blood, invertebrate ...[more]

PMID: 36034186

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Project description:Arctic lowland tundra is often dominated by wetlands. As numbers and types of these wetlands change with climate warming, their invertebrate biomass and assemblages may also be affected. Increased influx of nutrients and dissolved organic matter (DOM) from thawing peat may alter the relative availability of organic matter (OM) sources, differentially affecting taxa with disparate dependence on those sources. In five shallow wetland types (<40 to 110 cm deep) and in littoral zones of deeper lakes (>150 cm), we used stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) to compare contributions of four OM sources (periphytic microalgae, cyanobacteria, macrophytes, peat) to the diets of nine macroinvertebrate taxa. Living macrophytes were not distinguishable isotopically from peat that likely contributed most DOM. Within invertebrate taxa, relative OM contributions were similar among all wetland types except deeper lakes. Physidae snails consumed substantial amounts of OM from cyanobacteria. However, for all other taxa examined, microalgae were the dominant or a major OM source (39-82%, mean 59%) in all wetland types except deeper lakes (20‒62%, mean 31%). Macrophytes and macrophyte-derived peat, likely consumed mostly indirectly as DOM-supported bacteria, ranged from 18‒61% (mean 41%) of ultimate OM sources in all wetland types except deeper lakes (38-80%, mean 69%). Invertebrate consumption of microalgal C may often have involved bacterial intermediates, or a mix of algae with bacteria consuming peat-derived OM. High production of periphyton with very low δ13C values were favored by continuous daylight illuminating shallow depths, high N and P levels, and high CO2 concentrations from bacterial respiration of peat-derived DOM. Although relative OM sources were similar across wetland types except deeper lakes, total invertebrate biomass was much higher in shallow wetlands with emergent vegetation. Impacts of warming on the availability of invertebrate prey to waterbirds will likely depend not on shifts in OM sources, but more on changes in overall number or area of shallow emergent wetlands.

Dataset Information

Stable isotope mixing models demonstrate the role of an invasive plant in wetland songbird food webs.

Premise

Methods

Results

Discussion

Publications

Stable isotope mixing models demonstrate the role of an invasive plant in wetland songbird food webs.

Similar Datasets

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