Abstract
Stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes were used to elucidate primary food sources and trophic relationships of organisms in Khung Krabaen Bay and adjacent offshore waters. The three separate sampling sites were mangroves, inner bay and offshore. The δ13C values of mangrove leaves were −28.2 to −29.4‰, seagrass −10.5‰, macroalgae −14.9 to −18.2‰, plankton −20.0 to −21.8‰, benthic detritus −15.1 to −26.3‰, invertebrates −16.5 to −26.0‰, and fishes −13.4 to −26.3‰. The δ15N values of mangrove leaves were 4.3 to 5.7‰, seagrass 4.3‰, macroalgae 2.2 to 4.4‰, plankton 5.7 to 6.4 ‰, benthic detritus 5.1 to 5.3‰, invertebrates 7.2 to 12.2 ‰, and fishes 6.3 to 15.9‰. The primary producers had distinct δ13C values. The δ13C values of animals collected from mangroves were more negative than those of animals collected far from shore. The primary carbon sources that support food webs clearly depended on location. The contribution of mangroves to food webs was confined only to mangroves, but a mixture of macroalgae and plankton was a major carbon source for organisms in the inner bay area. Offshore organisms clearly derived their carbon through the planktonic food web. The δ15N values of consumers were enriched by 3–4‰ relative to their diets. The δ15N data suggests that some of aquatic animals had capacity to change their feeding habits according to places and availability of foods and as a result, individuals of the same species could be assigned to different trophic levels at different places.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agate A.D., Aryuthaka C., Chalermpongse A., Cheewasedtham C., De Silva K.H.G.M., Govindan A. et al. 1991. Fauna and fisheries studies. In: Final Report of the “Integrated Multidisciplinary Survey and Research Program of the Ranong Mangrove Ecosystem”. UNDP/UNESCO Regional Research and its Application to the Management of the Mangroves of Asia and the Pacific, RAS/86/120. In Co-Cperation with the National Mangrove Committee of the National Research Council of Thailand. Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 82–158.
Aksornkoae S. 1993. Ecology and Management of Mangroves. IUCN, Bangkok, Thailand, 176 pp.
Bell J.D. and Pollard D.A. 1989. Ecology of fish assemblages and fisheries associated with seagrasses. In: Larkum A.D.W., Mccomb A.J. and Shepherd S. (eds), Biology of Seagrasses: A Treatise on the Biology of Seagrasses with Special Reference to the Australian Region. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 565–609.
Benedict C.R. and Scott J.R. 1976. Photosynthetic carbon metabolism of a marine grass. Plant Physiology 57: 876–880.
Benedict C.R., Wong W.W.L. and Wong J.H.H. 1980. Fractionation of the stable isotopes of inorganic carbon by seagrasses. Plant Physiology 65: 512–517.
Bunn S.E., Loneragan N.R. and Kempster M.A. 1995. Effect of acid washing samples on stable isotope ratios of C and N in penaeid shrimps and seagrass: implications for food web studies using multiple stable isotopes. Limnology and Oceanography 40: 622–625.
Chong V.C. and Sasekumar A. 1981. Food and feeding habits of the white prawn Penaeus merguensis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 5: 185–191.
Chong V.C., Sasekumar A., Leh M.U.C. and D'Cruz R. 1990. The fish and prawn communities of a Malaysian coastal mangrove system, with comparisons to adjacent mud flats and inshore waters. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 31: 703–722.
Chong V.C., Low C.B. and Ichikawa T. 2001. Contribution of mangrove detritus to juvenile prawn nutrition: a dual stable isotope study in a Malaysian mangrove forest. Marine Biology 138: 77–86.
Department of Fisheries (DOF) 1992. Fishes and Aquatic Animals Picture of Thailand. Bangkhen, Thailand, 325 pp.
Fry B. and Sherr E.B. 1984. δ13C measurements as indicators of carbon flow in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Continental Marine Science 27: 13–47.
Fry B., Bern A.L., Ross M.S. and Meeder J.F. 2000. δ15N studies of nitrogen use by the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle L. in South Florida. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 50: 291–296.
Gearing J.N. 1991. The study of diet and trophic relationships through natural abundance 13C. In: Colemang D.C. and Fry B. (eds), Carbon Isotope Techniques. Academic Press, London, UK, pp. 201–218.
Haines E.B. and Montague C.L. 1979. Food source of estuarine invertebrates analysed using 13C/12C ratios. Ecology 60: 48–56.
Jenekitkarn S. 1995. Some Ecological Aspect of Fishes in the Seagrass Bed at Had Chao Mai National Park, Changwat Trang, M.Sc. thesis (Fisheries Science), Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand 134pp.
Klumpp D.W., Howard R.K. and Pollard D.A. 1989. Trophodynamics and nutritional ecology of seagrass communities. In: Larkum A.W.D., McComb A.J. and Sheperd S.A. (eds), Biology of Seagrasses: A Treatise on the Biology of Seagrasses with Special Reference to the Australian Region. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, pp. 458–499.
Leh M.U. and Sasekumar A. 1984. Feeding ecology of prawns in shallow water adjoining mangrove shores. In: Soepadmo E., Raol A.N. and Macintosh D.J. (eds), Proceeding Asian Symposium on Mangrove Environmental Research and Management. University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pp. 331–353.
Leh M.U. and Sasekumar A. 1985. The food of sesarmid crabs in Malaysian mangrove forests. Malaysian Nature Journal 39: 135–165.
Loneragan N.R., Bunn S.E. and Kellaway D.M. 1997. Are man-groves and seagrasses sources of organic carbon for penaeid prawns in a tropical Australian estuary? A multiple stable-isotope study. Marine Biology 130: 289–300.
Marguillier S., van der Velde G., Dehairs F., Hemminga M.A. and Rajagopal S. 1997. Trophic relationships in an interlinked mangrove-seagrass ecosystem as traced by δ13C and δ15N. Marine Ecology Progress Series 151: 115–121.
McMillan C., Parker P.L. and Fry B. 1980. 13C/12C ratios in seagrasses. Aquatic Botany 9: 237–249.
McRoy C.P. and Helfferich C. 1980. Applied aspects of seagrasses. In: Phillipes R.C. and McRoy C.P. (eds), Handbook of Seagrass Biology, An Ecosystem Perspective. Garland STPM Press, New York, USA, pp. 297–344.
Michener R.H. and Schell D.M. 1994. Stable isotope ratios as tracers in marine aquatic food webs. In: Lajtha K. and Michener R.H. (eds), Stable Isotopes in Ecology and Environmental Science. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK, pp. 138–157.
Minagawa M. and Wada E. 1984. Stepwise enrichment of 15N along food chains: further evidence and the relationship between δ15N and animal age. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 48: 1135–1140.
Nakasone Y., Limsakul S. and Trisrisook K. 1985. Degradation of leaf litter by grapsid crabs and snail in the mangrove forests of Ao Khung Krabaen and Mae Nam Wen, Thailand. In: Thai-Japanese Cooperative Research Project on Mangrove Productivity and Development 1983–1984. Mangrove Estuarine Ecology, Thailand, pp. 21–38.
Newell R.I.E., Marshall N., Sasekumar A. and Chong V.C. 1995. Relative importance of benthic microalgae, phytoplankton and mangroves as sources of nutrition for penaeid prawns and other coastal invertebrates from Malaysia. Marine Biology 123: 595–606.
O'Brien C.J. 1994. Ontogenetic changes in the diets of juvenile brown tiger prawns. Marine Ecology Progress Series 112: 195–200.
Peterson B.J. and Fry B. 1987. Stable isotopes in ecosystem studies. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 18: 293–320.
Primavera J.H. 1996. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of penaeid juveniles and primary producers in a riverine mangrove in Guimaras, Philippines. Bulletin of Marine Science 58: 675–689.
Rodelli M.R., Gearing J.N., Gearing F.F., Marshall N. and Sasekumar A. 1984. Stable isotope ratios as a tracer of mangrove carbon in Malaysian ecosystems. Oecologia 61: 326–333.
Sasaki T. and Inoue H. 1985. Studied on fundamental environments in the Khung Krabaen Bay, eastern Thailand. (I) hydraulic environments. In: Thai-Japanese Cooperative Research Project on Mangrove Productivity and Development 1983–1984. Mangrove Estuarine Ecology, Thailand, pp. 77–98.
Satapornvanit K. 1993. The Environmental Impact of Shrimp Farm Effluent, M.Sc. thesis, Asian Institute of Technology 150 pp.
Sudtongkong C. 1996. Habitat Selection, Food Preference and Fishery Biology of Mud Crab Scylla Serrata (Forskal, 1755) in Klong Ngao, Mangrove Forest, Ranong Province, M.Sc. thesis, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand 143 pp.
Tookwinas S., Malem F. and Songsangjinda P. 1995. Quality and quantity of discharged water from intensive marine shrimp farms at Khung Krabaen Bay, Chantaburi Province, eastern Thailand. In: Snidvongs A., Utonprukporn W. and Hungspreugs M. (eds), Proceedings of the NRCT-JSPS Joint Seminar on Marine Science, December 2–3, 1993. Songkhla, Thailand, pp. 30–40.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thimdee, W., Deein, G., Sangrungruang, C. et al. Analysis of primary food sources and trophic relationships of aquatic animals in a mangrove-fringed estuary, Khung Krabaen Bay (Thailand) using dual stable isotope techniques. Wetlands Ecology and Management 12, 135–144 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:WETL.0000021674.76171.69
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:WETL.0000021674.76171.69