2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
5/26/2021 | 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM | STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS REVEALS RESOURCE PARTITIONING IN DIVERSE FILTER FEEDER ASSEMBLAGES | Virtual Platform
STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS REVEALS RESOURCE PARTITIONING IN DIVERSE FILTER FEEDER ASSEMBLAGES
Resource partitioning among co-occurring species has been a subject of interest to ecologists and is the main mechanism explaining niche differentiation across ecosystems. Freshwater mussels (Family: Unionidae) are a highly diverse and imperiled group of filter-feeding bivalves but have various functional traits that may drive interspecific resource assimilation differences. Mussels live in multi-species aggregations where resource partitioning may promote coexistence. Our goal was to determine mussel species isotopic niche area and overlap and evaluate if patterns of resource partitioning were consistent among sites and rivers. We used stable isotope analysis (?13C and ?15N) to evaluate niche width and overlap of 23 species and assessed spatial and interspecific differences in isotopic area in 15 sites in the Mobile and Tennessee river basins. Our findings suggest that despite some isotopic niche overlap between species, mussels partition trophic resources in these multi-species aggregations. Isotopic niche area among species varied spatially suggesting trait variability along environmental gradients and communities. To further understand spatial variation in niche breadth we propose to assess the relationship between community species richness and isotopic niche area.
- Biodiversity
- Ecological dynamics
- Stream
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Presenters/Authors
Irene Sanchez Gonzalez
(), Arkansas State University, irene1sanchez@gmail.com;
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Garrett Hopper
(), Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, gwhopper@ua.edu;
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Jamie Bucholz
(), The University of Alabama, jbucholz@crimson.ua.edu ;
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Carla Atkinson
(), The University of Alabama, carla.l.atkinson@ua.edu;
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