Isotopic and traits-based trophic diversity of Canadian Beaufort Sea benthic communities in relation to food supply

Author:

Ehrman Ashley D.12ORCID,Swanson Heidi1,MacPhee Shannon2,Majewski Andrew2,Archambault Philippe3ORCID,Eert Jane4,Reist James2,Power Michael1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada

2. Freshwater Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N6, Canada

3. ArcticNet, Québec-Océan, Takuvik, Départment de biologie, Université Laval, 1045 avenue de la Médecine, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada

4. Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 9860 West Saanich Road, Sidney, BC V8L 4B2, Canada

Abstract

In the Arctic, climate-driven alterations to the quality and quantity of organic matter reaching the seafloor will likely affect benthic food web function. We used biomass-weighted diversity measures based on trophic traits (those related to feeding behaviours, e.g., mobility, size, food source), stable isotope ratios (δ15N and δ13C), and taxonomy to assess linkages between benthic food web structure and indicators of food supply in the shelf and slope ecosystems of the Canadian Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf (down to 500 m). Benthic communities across both regions used a similar diversity of sedimentary organic matter sources according to stable isotopes, despite known differences between regions in organic matter input and benthic–pelagic coupling. Shelf-edge and upper-slope communities exhibited relatively high trophic trait diversity, which likely reflected the exploitation of pulsed food inputs associated with dynamic processes at the shelf break that affect the production and advection of organic matter to the benthos. Pairwise relationships between trophic traits and sedimentary proxies of benthic food supply were not significant at the regional scale. However, cluster analyses supported the notion that trophic trait composition was influenced by proximity to the shelf edge, where food supply is influenced by episodic events that may not be reflected by in situ sedimentary proxies. Our findings add to growing evidence that evaluating trophic traits composition may provide more information regarding functional responses to changes in benthic food supply than either isotopic or taxonomic diversity indices alone.

Publisher

Canadian Science Publishing

Subject

General Earth and Planetary Sciences,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science

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