Basal resources of river food webs largely affect the fatty acid composition of freshwater fish

1. Overfishing, altered flow regimes, loss of connectivity, pollution and other direct human disturbances have had a significant impact on freshwater fish biodiversity. While direct effects of these disturbances are well documented, some can also lead to changes in the nutritional composition at the base of freshwater food webs and may affect fish growth and reproduction. 'thus far, little is known about how changes in the nutritional composition at the base of freshwater food webs are reflected in fish production and fatty acid composition. 2. We conducted a field study in subalpine rivers in Austria to examine how variations in the food quality of basal food sources affect the biochemical composition of freshwater fish. Basal food sources (terrestrial leaves and periphyton), the abundant fish taxa brown trout (Salmo mars) and European bullhead (Corms gobio) and their macroinvertebrate prey were collected and their stable carbon isotopes (delta C-13) and fatty add (FA) compositions were measured. 3. Our results show that periphyton was the major source of dietary carbon for fish and most invertebrates, except shredders, and a high-quality food for all consumers that provides long-chain polyunsaturated FA (LC-PUFA). In contrast, submerged leaves contained very low content of LC-PUFA and were low-quality food for consumers. 4. Changes in periphyton FA across these river ecosystems were tracked in macroinvertebrate FA profiles and in the FA composition of muscle tissues in both fish species. In contrast, the FA composition of fish brain remained unaltered across the study streams. 5. The docosahexacnoic acid (DHA, 22:6 omega 3) content in muscle tissues of S. trutta remained stable and did not correspond to changes of periphyton FA, indicating strong regulation of DMA in this species which is independent of aquatic food sources. In contrast, muscle DHA and eicesapentacnoic acid (EPA, 20:5(a) content of C. gobio significantly declined when periphyton quality decreased, reflecting the strong impact of the nutritional quality of periphyton on the FA composition of this bottom-dwelling fish. 6. Reduced nutritional quality of periphyton led to reduced I.C-PUFA in muscle tissues of bottom-dwelling bullhead and even piscivorous brown trout, suggesting that changes of FA composition at the base of river food webs cannot be compensated by intermediate consumers, such as benthic invertebrates, that also convey dietary FA to fishes. This study highlights how subtle human disturbance to streams can affect freshwater fish species through changes to the nutritional quality of their basal food sources.

Automated summary

Based on a field study in subalpine rivers in Austria, it was found that variations in the food quality of basal food sources significantly impact the biochemical composition of freshwater fish. Periphyton was identified as a major dietary carbon source for fish and most invertebrates, providing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), while submerged leaves contained low levels of LC-PUFA and were considered low-quality food. Changes in periphyton fatty acid composition affected the muscle tissues of fish, with the brown trout showing stable docosahexaenoic acid content while the European bullhead had a decline in both DHA and EPA when periphyton quality decreased.