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SUMMARY:EESS talk on "'All carbon is equal\, but some is more equal' – d
 ifferences in dietary carbon utilization across food webs"
DTSTART:20170516T121500
DTEND:20170516T131500
DTSTAMP:20260506T061825Z
UID:829d7c4202df5622ad6616ad94f9d95d0d67952f7dc6469509bc1f65
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr Martin Kainz\, Group Leader\, Aquatic Lipid Research and Ec
 otoxicology (LIPTOX) WasserCluster\, Vienna University\, Lunz am See (Aust
 ria)\n\nShort biography: Martin Kainz pursued his PhD in ecotoxicology and
  environmental sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal\, Canad
 a\, followed by post-docs at the University of Victoria\, BC\, and the Can
 adian National Water Research Institute\, Burlington\, ON. Since 2006 he w
 orks at the inter-university center for aquatic ecosystem research WasserC
 luster Lunz\, Austria. His current research includes questions about food 
 quality\, animal development\, trophic transfer efficiency\, and dietary c
 arbon composition. He is actively involved in several research networks\, 
 such as the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) and the Alp
 ine Limnology Network (LimnoAlp) in Europe.\nAbstract:\nCarbon is essentia
 l in providing dietary energy from the base to the top of all food chains.
   To date\, most of the food web research evaluates the nutritional value
  of food on an elemental basis\, including bulk C\, N\, P\, and essential 
 micronutrients such as Si\, Ca\, Mg\, S\, Fe\, etc. The trophic fate and u
 tilization of these dietary nutrients vary strongly among food webs and ch
 allenge food web scientists for a long time. In freshwater ecosystems\, di
 etary organic matter is generally derived from terrestrial and autochthono
 us (algal) sources that differ in their biochemical composition.  Terrest
 rial organic matter (t-OM) inputs to lakes and rivers are comprised of bio
 chemically mostly recalcitrant lignocellulose that is highly resistant to 
 enzymatic breakdown by animal consumers.  Further\, t-OM and heterotrophi
 c bacteria lack essential biochemical compounds that are critical for rapi
 d somatic growth and reproduction in aquatic invertebrates and fishes.  H
 owever\, amino acid stable isotope analyses for food webs indicate that mo
 st upper trophic level essential amino acids are derived from algae.  Sim
 ilarly\, profiles of essential fatty acids in consumers show a strong depe
 ndence on algal food resources. I will present evidence that the relative 
 importance of t-OM subsidies for upper trophic level production should be 
 addressed by considering the rates at which terrestrial and autochthonous 
 resources are consumed and the growth efficiency supported by this food. U
 ltimately\, the biochemical composition of a particular basal resource\, a
 nd not just its quantity or origin\, determines how readily this material 
 is incorporated into upper trophic level consumers. Because of the highly 
 favorable biochemical composition and greater availability\, it can be con
 cluded that algae-derived dietary energy supports most animal production i
 n aquatic ecosystems.\n 
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