EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021

(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)

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5/20/2019 | 11:15 AM - 11:30 AM | USE OF TROPHIC BASIS OF PRODUCTION ANALYSES AND STABLE ISOTOPE TRACER ADDITIONS TO QUANTIFY ENERGY FLOW AND NUTRIENT CYCLING IN TROPICAL STREAM FOOD WEBS | 250 DE

USE OF TROPHIC BASIS OF PRODUCTION ANALYSES AND STABLE ISOTOPE TRACER ADDITIONS TO QUANTIFY ENERGY FLOW AND NUTRIENT CYCLING IN TROPICAL STREAM FOOD WEBS

We quantified energy flow and nutrient cycling in Central American headwater mountain streams over multiple years in order to assess how disease-driven amphibian declines were influencing ecosystem function. These declines resulted in sudden, catastrophic losses of consumer biomass and diversity from the streams. Initial studies suggested detrital pathways dominated energy flow and nutrient cycling in these forested systems, particularly when standard functional group and trophic basis of production approaches were employed. However, autochthonous pathways were significant, particularly in healthy streams with grazing tadpoles. Tracer studies with 15N additions indicated that although coarse detritus accounted for ~83% of N uptake, the grazing pathway accounted for ~87% of N flux from resources in to animals when amphibians were present; N fluxes from detritus to shredders and periphyton to grazers became similar after amphibian declines. Gut content analyses revealed high degrees of omnivory across taxa and functional groups in the streams, reflecting significant complexity in food webs. Gut content analyses also further demonstrated the importance of autochthonous pathways. Collectively, these studies illustrate the importance of using multiple approaches and examining different scales to evaluate energy flow and nutrient cycling patterns in freshwater habitats.

Tropics
Amphibian
Biogeochemistry

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Presenters/Authors

Matt Whiles (), University of Florida, mwhiles@ufl.edu;