Umeå University's logo

umu.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Retention of essential fatty acids in fish differs by species, habitat use and nutritional quality of prey
Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Umeå Marine Sciences Centre (UMF). Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal Science and Export Agriculture, Uva Wellassa University, Badulla, Sri Lanka. (EcoChange; UMFpub)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7211-6374
Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Umeå Marine Sciences Centre (UMF). (EcoChange; UMFpub)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1298-3839
Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Umeå Marine Sciences Centre (UMF). Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. (EcoChange; UMFpub)ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7819-9038
Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3246-7508
2023 (English)In: Ecology and Evolution, E-ISSN 2045-7758, Vol. 13, no 6, article id e10158Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Algae-produced long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA; with ≥20 carbon atoms) are key biomolecules for consumer production and animal health. They are transferred to higher trophic levels and accumulated in food chains. However, LC-PUFA accumulation in consumers and their trophic transfer vary with the diet quality and the physiological demand for LC-PUFA of consumers. The goal of this study was to investigate spatial and taxonomic differences in LC-PUFA retention of coastal fish predators that potentially differ in their habitat use (benthic versus pelagic) and prey quality. We analyzed the fatty acid (FA) composition of common fish species, namely roach and European perch, as well as their potential prey from benthic and pelagic habitats in three bays of the northern Baltic Sea. We then assessed whether the fish LC-PUFA retention differed between species and among the study bays with different diet quality, that is, LC-PUFA availability. Our data indicated taxon-specific differences in the retention of LC-PUFA and their precursor FA in fish (i.e., short-chain PUFA with <20 carbon atoms). Perch did not show any spatial variation in the retention of all these FA, while roach showed spatial differences in the retention of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and their precursor FA, but not eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Data suggest that diet quality and trophic reliance on benthic prey underlay the DHA retention differences in roach. Although the PUFA supply might differ among sites, the low spatial variation in LC-PUFA content of perch and roach indicates that both fishes were able to selectively retain dietary LC-PUFA. Climate change together with other existing human-caused environmental stressors are expected to alter the algal assemblages and lower their LC-PUFA supply for aquatic food webs. Our findings imply that these stressors will pose heterogeneous impacts on different fish predators. We advocate further investigations on how environmental changes would affect the nutritional quality of the basal trophic level, and their subsequent impacts on LC-PUFA retention, trophic ecology, and performance of individual fish species.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
John Wiley & Sons, 2023. Vol. 13, no 6, article id e10158
Keywords [en]
Baltic Sea, benthic macroinvertebrates, DHA, perch, polyunsaturated fatty acids, roach, trophic transfer, zooplankton
National Category
Ecology Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-209684DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10158ISI: 001000331000001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85192054926OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-209684DiVA, id: diva2:1766430
Part of project
Effects of browning of coastal waters on marine food web function and quality, Swedish Research Council Formas
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2019/0007Ecosystem dynamics in the Baltic Sea in a changing climate perspective - ECOCHANGEAvailable from: 2023-06-13 Created: 2023-06-13 Last updated: 2025-09-22Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Marine food webs under changing climate: impacts on food web efficiency and quality
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Marine food webs under changing climate: impacts on food web efficiency and quality
2024 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Alternative title[sv]
Marina näringsvävar och klimatförändring : påverkan på födovävseffektivitet och kvalitet
Abstract [en]

Climate change has shown to have global impacts on marine ecosystems by increasing temperature and altering hydrology. The consequences for marine food webs are less known, but it has been suggested that both the nutritional quality and production will change in such a way that the energy transfer up the food web becomes lowered. The ratio between the production by upper and basal trophic levels, i.e., the food web efficiency, may decrease. In this thesis, I investigated the effects of climate change-induced environmental alterations on the food web efficiency and quality in the northern Baltic Sea, i.e., the Gulf of Bothnia, using multiple approaches including field surveys, a mesocosm experiment, and time-series analyses of long-term monitoring data. In the field study, I found that seawater browning in the Bothnian Bay has caused reductions in the nutritional quality of mesozooplankton. Through the mesocosm experiment, I found that intensified cyanobacterial blooms, a likely consequence of climate change, would reduce the zooplankton's nutritional quality and food web efficiency. The time-series analyses indicated that the lowered salinity and increased dissolved organic carbon, resulting from climate change, have reduced the nutritional quality of herring in the Bothnian Bay. Further, I found that the retention of essential fatty acids in coastal fish predators largely depends on their taxonomy, habitat use, and the nutritional quality of their prey. Therefore, climate-related environmental changes, which alter the nutritional quality of prey resources, are predicted to alter the retention of essential fatty acids in fish. Overall, the results suggest that climate change-induced environmental stressors such as increased browning and cyanobacterial blooms, and reduced salinity in the northern Baltic Sea have negative impacts on the food web efficiency and quality. These changes may imply a potential decline in fish production and environmental health. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Umeå: Umeå University, 2024. p. 29
Keywords
Food web efficiency, Food web quality, Trophic transfer, Browning, Fatty acids, Stable isotopes, Cyanobacteria, Zooplankton, Roach, Perch
National Category
Ecology
Research subject
environmental science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-231815 (URN)978-91-8070-539-4 (ISBN)978-91-8070-538-7 (ISBN)
Public defence
2024-12-13, KBE301 - Lilla hörsalen, KBC-huset, Umeå, 09:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Funder
Ecosystem dynamics in the Baltic Sea in a changing climate perspective - ECOCHANGESwedish Research Council Formas, FR-2019/0007
Available from: 2024-11-22 Created: 2024-11-15 Last updated: 2025-09-24Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(2079 kB)273 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 2079 kBChecksum SHA-512
2b198dd741ea0613b1af77a9432919beed5b9de175f1b1d6cad8fe87db7fb7ff6bce70f1d734de218e516aff8f3861eebb90ebcd2def6a73017ee866ebc1db12
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Bandara, TharinduBrugel, SoniaAndersson, AgnetaLau, Danny Chun Pong

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Bandara, TharinduBrugel, SoniaAndersson, AgnetaLau, Danny Chun Pong
By organisation
Department of Ecology and Environmental SciencesUmeå Marine Sciences Centre (UMF)
In the same journal
Ecology and Evolution
EcologyEnvironmental Sciences

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 275 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 969 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf