Abstract
THE nitrogen pools of animals are enriched in 15N relative to their food1, with the top predators having the highest concentrations of this stable isotope2. The use of δ15N to indicate trophic position depends on the degree to which it reflects variation in the underly-ing food-web structure, rather than variable fractionation along the food chain. Here we compare adult lake trout, a top pelagic predator, from a series of lakes, and find that δ15N values vary from 7.5 to 17.5%o, a surprisingly wide range for one species. The length of the food chain can explain this variation, supporting the idea that δ15N is a food-web descriptor. Food-chain length was measured by the presence or absence of two intermediate trophic levels, pelagic forage fish and the macrozooplankter, Mysis relicta, each of which when present contributes about three δ15N units to the trout signature. We find that δ15N can be used as a continuous, integrative measure of trophic position, which is supported by its correlation to mercury levels in lake trout.
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Cabana, G., Rasmussen, J. Modelling food chain structure and contaminant bioaccumulation using stable nitrogen isotopes. Nature 372, 255–257 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/372255a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/372255a0
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