Evaluation of Nitrogen and Carbon Stable Isotopes in Filter Feeding Bivalves and Surficial Sediment for Assessing Aquatic Condition in Lakes and Estuaries.

ABSTRACT: Excessive inputs of nitrogen from anthropogenic activities in watersheds can cause detrimental effects to aquatic ecosystems, but these effects can be difficult to determine based solely on nitrogen concentrations because of their temporal variability and the need to link human activities to ecological responses. Here, we (1) tested the use of stable isotopes of nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) and carbon (δ¹³C) in benthic organic matter (BOM) as proxies for isotope ratios of filter feeding bivalves in lakes and estuaries, which can be used as indicators but are harder to sample and often spatially sparse, and (2) evaluated if stable isotope ratios in benthic organic matter could be used to assess impacts from anthropogenic land development of watersheds. The δ¹⁵N in BOM is

SUBMITTER: Lake JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9888023 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature