Beyond macronutrients: element variability and multielement stoichiometry in freshwater invertebrates
- 18 October 2006
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Ecology Letters
- Vol. 9 (12), 1273-1283
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00979.x
Abstract
We contrasted concentrations of macronutrients (C, N and P), essential (As, Cu, Zn and Se) and non-essential metals (Pb, Hg and Cd) in invertebrates across five lakes and June to October in one lake. We predicted that somatic concentrations of tightly regulated elements would be less variable than weakly and unregulated elements. Within each taxon, variation was lowest in macronutrients, intermediate in essential micronutrients, and highest in non-essential metals, which corresponded in rank to homeostatic regulation strength for the same elements calculated from the literature. Hence, homeostatic regulation may strongly influence variation in element concentrations of biota in situ. Of the individual elements, only taxonomic differences in C and N were consistent across lakes and over a season. Nevertheless, canonical discriminant analyses successfully discriminated among taxa based on taxonomic multielement composition. Thus, relative taxonomic differences in multielement composition appear more informative than absolute stoichiometric formulae when considering the role of inherently variable trace elements in ecological investigations.Keywords
This publication has 44 references indexed in Scilit:
- INVERSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIOCONCENTRATION FACTOR AND EXPOSURE CONCENTRATION FOR METALS: IMPLICATIONS FOR HAZARD ASSESSMENT OF METALS IN THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTEnvironmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2003
- Trace Metals in Tripton, Zooplankton, Zoobenthos, Reeds and Sediments of Selected Lakes in North‐Central PolandInternational Review of Hydrobiology, 1998
- The Stoichiometry of Animal EnergeticsJournal of Theoretical Biology, 1995
- The role of dissolved organic carbon in the chemistry and bioavailability of mercury in remote Adirondack lakesWater, Air, & Soil Pollution, 1995
- Algal Nutrient Limitation and the Nutrition of Aquatic HerbivoresAnnual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 1994
- Toxicity of inorganic and organic selenium to Daphnia magna (cladocera) and Chironomus riparius (diptera)Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 1990
- TOXICITY OF INORGANIC AND ORGANIC SELENIUM TO DAPHNIA MAGNA (CLADOCERA) AND CHIRONOMUS RIPARIUS (DIPTERA)Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 1990
- Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus status in Daphnia at varying food conditionsJournal of Plankton Research, 1990
- Complementary Models for EcosystemsThe American Naturalist, 1986
- Chronic effects of inorganic and organic mercury onDaphnia magna: Toxicity, accumulation, and lossArchives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 1982