2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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5/22/2018 | 9:45 AM - 10:00 AM | WHEN ARE FISH SOURCES VS. SINKS OF NUTRIENTS IN LAKE ECOSYSTEMS? THE ROLE OF CARCASS DECOMPOSITION | 321

WHEN ARE FISH SOURCES VS. SINKS OF NUTRIENTS IN LAKE ECOSYSTEMS? THE ROLE OF CARCASS DECOMPOSITION

Fish can be sources or sinks of nutrients in ecosystems, and their role in this context may depend on the fate of nutrients in carcasses. We measured nutrient release rates from decomposing fish (gizzard shad) carcasses in field and lab experiments, and quantified ecosystem-level fluxes of nutrients through a population over a 19 year period. Our goal was to assess when fish are nutrients sources or sinks to the pelagic habitat. Rates of nutrient release from carcasses increased with temperature (Q10 range: 1.07-2.77 for N and 1.07-3.57 for P) and were higher especially for young-of-year (YOY). Nutrient release rates were also faster when macroinvertebrates had access to carcasses, compared to when only microbes had access. Carcasses lost N more rapidly than P. At the ecosystem level, the gizzard shad population is usually a source of dissolved nutrients to the pelagic zone, because of high rates of excretion of benthic-derived nutrients. However, during periods of rapid YOY growth and high mortality, the population can be a sink for pelagic nutrients. However, whether the population is a source or sink at these times depends on nutrient release rates from decomposing carcasses.

Fish
Stoichiometry
Nutrients

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Presenters/Authors

Regina Nobre (), Miami University - Oxford Ohio, reginanobre.eco@gmail.com;