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FOOD WEB STRUCTURE AS A POTENTIAL INDICATOR OF NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT IN GREAT LAKES COASTAL WETLANDS
Citation:
Sierszen, M E., J. C. Brazner, J A. Morrice, AND A S. Trebitz. FOOD WEB STRUCTURE AS A POTENTIAL INDICATOR OF NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT IN GREAT LAKES COASTAL WETLANDS. Presented at American Society of Limnology and Oceanography 2003 Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, February 8-14, 2003.
Description:
Analyses of the food webs of Great Lakes coastal wetlands verify the role of algae as an energetic foundation, and also suggest that fundamental changes occur in response to both natural and anthropogenic influences. We analyzed coastal wetlands with a range of nutrient concentrations and with hydrologic characteristics that grade from lacustrine to riverine, and contrasted the effects of these factors on food web structure. The relative importance of periphyton and phytoplankton to consumers changes in response to system hydrology, with periphyton increasingly important in systems with shorter hydrologic residence times. Nutrients play a role within the constructs of hydrology, with periphyton dominant in pristine systems and phytoplankton increasingly important with nutrient enrichment. Food web structure may be a useful indicator of nutrient enrichment in wetlands when system hydrology is used as a classification variable. This abstract does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.