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High variability in carbon and nitrogen isotopic discrimination of tropical freshwater invertebrates

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Abstract

Stable isotope techniques are widely applied in aquatic food web research to infer trophic position or to estimate the relative contributions of different dietary resources. The accurate consideration of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) discrimination in organisms is a critical prerequisite for such studies. Isotopic discrimination of invertebrates may differ systematically between temperate and tropical freshwater environments, but there are little data available on discrimination factors of tropical invertebrates. Here, we analyzed the C (Δ13C) and N discrimination (Δ15N) of eight taxa of benthic freshwater invertebrates from a Southeastern Brazilian tropical catchment, six predator and two shredder species. Predators showed a high variability in Δ13C (−1.5 to 1.3; min–max), but shredders exhibited a lower variability and had negative Δ13C values (−2.1 to −1.8). Values of Δ15N were also highly variable among both predators and shredders, but shredders had negative and lower values (−0.9 to −0.1) than predators (0.0 to 9.1). Tissue turnover rates were equal to or higher than 0.02 d−1 for all invertebrates, suggesting that experiment durations of 50 days may be sufficient for future isotopic discrimination experiments with tropical freshwater invertebrates. Our results suggest that Δ13C enrichment, and to a minor degree also Δ15N enrichment, may not always occur in tropical freshwater invertebrates.

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Acknowledgments

We thank A.T.B. Santos, A.P.M.V. Matos, R.C. Chaves, F.L. Nascimento, H. Reis, G.H. Almeida, A. Contin, A.B.M. Paiva and E.M. Soares for their help with sampling and sample preparation. C.C. Figueredo and R. Gergs kindly provided laboratorial support for sample preparation and isotope analysis. This study was supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa no Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG CRA-11/12). A.P.C. de Carvalho was supported by a graduate student grant from the Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Limnology Laboratory, Federal University of São João del-Rei, Praça Dom Helvécio 74, São João Del-Rei, MG, 36301-160, Brazil

    Ana Paula C. de Carvalho, Björn Gücker & Iola G. Boëchat

  2. Department of River Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH–UFZ, Brückstrasse 3a, 39114, Magdeburg, Germany

    Mario Brauns

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  1. Ana Paula C. de Carvalho
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  2. Björn Gücker
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  3. Mario Brauns
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  4. Iola G. Boëchat
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Correspondence to Iola G. Boëchat.

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de Carvalho, A.P.C., Gücker, B., Brauns, M. et al. High variability in carbon and nitrogen isotopic discrimination of tropical freshwater invertebrates. Aquat Sci 77, 307–314 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-014-0388-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-014-0388-x

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