Abstract
Stable isotopes (13C and 15N) are widely applied in studies of trophic links. We used this method to investigate the contribution of aquatic and terrestrial prey to the diet of riparian predatory arthropods in two mountain headwater streams in Colorado, USA. Aquatic and terrestrial prey and riparian predators were collected during summer 2009. To evaluate the reliability of conclusions based on stable isotope ratios, we compared the isotopic signatures of aquatic larval and terrestrial adult stages of three abundant stream insect species and assessed variation in mixing model estimates for spider diet composition under varying assumptions for trophic fractionation. Adult isotopic signatures of some aquatic prey species were indistinguishable from those of prey species with exclusively terrestrial life histories (stoneflies: 13C and 15N, chironomids: 13C). Other prey had distinctly aquatic isotopic signatures as both larvae and adults (a mayfly and a caddisfly). There was no evidence that prey with aquatic isotopic signatures contributed to the diet of the spiders near one stream. For the other stream, mixing model analysis suggested that chironomids were included in the diets of lycosid, linyphiid and liocranid spiders. Reliable estimates of the contributions of prey sources were compromised by the sensitivity of mixing models to assumptions on trophic fractionation and the presence of “isotopically cryptic” prey. This study emphasizes the importance of supporting isotope-based studies on cross-boundary trophic links with data on isotopic shifts in prey with complex life cycles and assessment of fractionation rates specific to the study system.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Wendy Brown for assistance in the field and laboratory and particularly for spider identification, Steve Horn, Maruxa Alvarez, Angus McIntosh, Marge Penton and Carrie Robbins for help in the field and fruitful discussions on the project, Jen Moslemi for kindly providing her isotope data, Billy Barr and the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory for providing support and facilities for this study, anonymous reviewers whose comments helped to improve the manuscript from earlier versions and Jake Vander Zanden and Erika Nilsson for valuable advice when planning the study. This project was partially funded by an Eawag Mobility Grant to M. Alp, the Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, and National Science Foundation Grant no. DEB—0516035 awarded to B.L. Peckarsky. IGB Fellowship in Freshwater Science supported Maria Alp during preparation of this manuscript.
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Electronic Supplemental Information Online Source 1 includes supplementary tables with sampling site description, pitfall composition and all measured isotopic values.
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Alp, M., Peckarsky, B.L., Bernasconi, S.M. et al. Shifts in isotopic signatures of animals with complex life-cycles can complicate conclusions on cross-boundary trophic links. Aquat Sci 75, 595–606 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-013-0303-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-013-0303-x