Assessment of marine-derived nutrients in the Copper River Delta, Alaska, using natural abundance of the stable isotopes of nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon
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Abstract
We performed nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon stable isotope analysis (SIA) on maturing and juvenile anadromous sockeye and coho salmon, and periphyton in two Copper River delta watersheds of Alaska to trace salmonderived nutrients during 2003–2004. Maturing salmon were isotopically enriched relative to alternate freshwater N, S, and C sources as expected, with differences consistent with species trophic level differences, and minor system, sex, and year-to-year differences, enabling use of SIA to trace these salmon-derived nutrients. Periphyton naturally colonized, incubated, and collected using Wildco Periphtyon Samplers in and near spawning sites was 34S- and 15N-enriched, as expected, and at all freshwater sites was 13C-depleted. At nonspawning and coho-only sites, periphyton 34S and 15N was generally low. However, 34S was low enough at some sites to be suggestive of sulfate reduction, complicating the use of S isotopes. Juvenile salmon SIA ranged in values consistent with using production derived from re-mineralization as well as direct utilization, but only by a minority fraction of coho salmon. Dependency on salmon-derived nutrients ranged from relatively high to relatively low, suggesting a space-limited system. No one particular isotope was found to be superior for determining the relative importance of salmon-derived nutrients.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Assessment of marine-derived nutrients in the Copper River Delta, Alaska, using natural abundance of the stable isotopes of nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon |
| Series title | American Fisheries Society Symposium |
| Volume | 54 |
| Year Published | 2007 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Fisheries Society |
| Publisher location | Bethesda MD |
| Contributing office(s) | Alaska Science Center |
| Description | 10 p. |
| First page | 51 |
| Last page | 60 |
| Online Only (Y/N) | N |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | N |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |