Journal
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 664, Issue -, Pages 635-646Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.343
Keywords
Coastal lagoon; Gulf of California; Food web; Stable isotopes of C and N; Agriculture; Shrimp aquaculture
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Funding
- National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (Project CONACYT) [CB-2008-C01-103522]
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In this study, we elucidated the impacts of allochthonous organic matter (OM) and nutrients (N and P) inputs coming from agriculture and shrimp aquaculture activities on food web structure in a subtropical coastal lagoon located on the central-east of the Gulf of California. This coastal lagoon is highly influenced by OM and nutrients inputs by a large agriculture district and aquaculture development center in Mexico. We also selected a second coastal lagoon, without direct OM and nutrients inputs, considered as a 'pristine' ecosystem. We evaluated the quantity of OM, N and P in both ecosystems and reconstructed the food webs using isotopic tools of C and N from the base to top. We collected and analyzed autochthonous and allochthonous OM, and organisms including primary producers, and primary to tertiary consumers. Overall, specimens of the same species and/or functional groups showed higher delta N-15 values in the ecosystem receiving agriculture and shrimp aquaculture effluents than the pristine. Food webs were composed of four and five trophic levels, where fish and birds occupied the top predator levels. Seasonal increases in OM and N and P quantities in lagoons affected by anthropogenic activities produced high delta N-15 values in primary producers and consumers. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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