Variation in fatty acid content among benthic invertebrates in a seasonally driven system
Read the full study in Limnology and Oceanography Letter.
In this study we test whether the succession from nutritious spring blooms to summer cyanobacteria is reducing food quality for benthic primary consumers and their fatty acid (FA) profiles. Contrary to expectations, we find low seasonal variability in FA content of five benthic macroinvertebrates spanning two trophic levels in the Baltic Sea, a system with high seasonal variation in phytoplankton species composition. However, levels of the major FA groups vary greatly between benthic species. This suggests that seafloor animals have evolved mechanisms to adapt to low-quality food inputs and that species composition of seafloor animals is important for determining food quality for fish. Moreover, this indicates that the transfer of essential biomolecules from primary producer to upper trophic levels is more complex and not directly related to the taxonomic composition and content of phytoplankton.
Figure (A) Seasonal averaged content of PUFAs (including EFAs and their precursors ALA and LIN). The number reports the ω3:ω6 PUFA ratio. (B) NMDS clustering of benthic macroinvertebrate species, sediment and seston based on the proportion of individual FAs over the whole sampling period.
Winder Lab 