Dietary fatty acids of spiders reveal spatial and temporal variations in aquatic-terrestrial linkages

Chari, Lenin D; Richoux, Nicole B; Moyo, Sydney; Villet, Martin H

Title: Dietary fatty acids of spiders reveal spatial and temporal variations in aquatic-terrestrial linkages
Creator: Chari, Lenin D
Creator: Richoux, Nicole B
Creator: Moyo, Sydney
Creator: Villet, Martin H
Subject: To be catalogued
Date Issued: 2020
Date: 2020
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/454320
Identifier: vital:75335
Identifier: xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2020.e00152"
Description: Stream and riparian food webs can be strongly linked by inputs of aquatic emergent insect prey to terrestrial predators. However, quantifying these linkages and understanding how they vary in time and space is challenging. We investigated the dynamic width of a riverine trophic subsidy zone by determining the relationship between perpendicular distance from a river and dietary contributions of aquatic insect prey to web-building spiders' diets. To assess this relationship, riparian web-building spiders at two river sites were sampled during four seasons and analysed for the fatty acids 16:0, 16:1ω7 and 20:5ω3, their total ω3-fatty acid content and their ω3:ω6 ratio to evaluate trophic subsidies reaching them from an adjacent river. River-derived fatty acids generally declined with increased distance from the river, indicating a diffusion of aquatically derived subsidies into the riparian zone. While the river was only 16 m wide at its broadest, river-derived trophic subsidies were detected up to four times that distance from the river edge. Spiders at a downstream section of the river, characterised by generally higher emergence rates of aquatic insects, contained higher proportions of aquatic indicator fatty acids compared with spiders located upstream, where emergence rates were lower. Similarly, proportions of aquatic indicator fatty acids in spiders were lowest during winter when aquatic insect emergence rates were lowest. The fatty acid 20:5ω3 (eicosapentaenoic acid; EPA) held the best promise as a biomarker of aquatic-derived tropic subsidies and could be developed as a useful tool for riparian research and management.
Format: computer
Format: online resource
Format: application/pdf
Format: 1 online resource (9 pages)
Format: pdf
Publisher: Elsevier
Language: English
Relation: Food Webs
Relation: Chari, L.D., Richoux, N.B., Moyo, S. and Villet, M.H., 2020. Dietary fatty acids of spiders reveal spatial and temporal variations in aquatic-terrestrial linkages. Food Webs, 24, p.e00152
Relation: Food Webs volume 24 p. e00152 2020 2352-2496
Rights: Publisher
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Elsevier Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.elsevier.com/legal/elsevier-website-terms-and-conditions)
Rights: Closed Access

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Villet, Martin Herrer (Prof)

Richoux, Nicole Bertine (Assoc Prof)

RU Department of Zoology and Entomology

SDG 15. Life On Land

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