Abstract
Stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) of eelgrass Zostera marina and of kelp Laminaria longicruris showed considerable variation in time and space. The isotopic composition of Z. marina varied seasonally from a mean of-6‰ for leaves formed in June to a mean of-10‰ for leaves formed in February. The maximum range for individual leaves was from-5 to-11.4‰. Once a leaf was fully formed, its isotopic composition appeared not to change. In L. longicruris there was no clear seasonal pattern of variation, but in any given blade there was a spatial pattern of variation, with the thickened central band tending to be least negative and the margins most negative. In one blade the range was from-12 to-20‰. Since this range overlaps values that are found in various other macrophytes and in seston, the value of the stable carbon isotope ratio as a tracer in food webs involving macroalgae is questioned. For Z. marina, in which the values are seasonally predictable, the technique may be useful if interpreted with care. The most probable explanation of variation in the ratios is differential storage of biochemical components of different isotopic compostion.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
anderson, M. R., A. Cardinal and J. Larochelle: An alternate growth pattern for Laminaria longicruris. J. Phycol. 17, 405–411 (1981)
Andrews, T. J. and K. M. Abel: Photosynthetic carbon metabolism in seagrasses. Plant Physiol. 63, 650–656 (1979)
Beer, S., A. Eshel and Y. Waisel: Carbon metabolism in seagrasses. I. The utilization of exogenous inorganic carbon species in photosynthesis. J. exp. Bot. 28, 1180–1189 (1977)
Bender, M. M.: Variations in the 13C/12C ratios of plants in relation to the pathway of photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation. Phytochemistry 10, 1239–1244 (1971)
Benedict, C. R. and J. R. Scott: Photosynthetic carbon metabolism of a marine grass. lant Physiol. 57, 876–880 (1976)
Benedict, C. R., W. W. L. Wong and J. H. H. Wong: Fractionation of the stable isotopes of inorganic carbon by seagrasses. Plant. Physiol. 65, 512–517 (1980)
Chapman, A. R. O. and J. S. Craigie: Seasonal growth in Laminaria longicruris: relations with reserve carbohydrate storage and production. Mar. Biol. 46, 209–213 (1978)
Christeller, J. T., W. A. Laing and J. H. Troughton: Isotope discrimination by ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase. Plant. Physiol. 57, 580–582 (1976)
DeNiro, M. J. and S. Epstein: Influence of diet on the distribution of carbon isotopes in animals. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 42, 495–506 (1978)
Deuser, W. G. and E. T. Degens: Carbon isotope fractionation in the system CO2(gas)−CO2 (aqueous)-HCO -3 (aqueous). Nature, Lond. 215, 1033–1035 (1967)
Fry, B. and P. L. Parker: Animal diet in Texas seagrass meadows: δ13C evidence for the importance of benthic plants. Estuar. coast. mar. Sci. 8, 499–509 (1979)
Gagne, J. A., K. H. Mann and A. R. O. Chapman: Seasonal patterns of growth and storage in Laminaria longicruris in relation to differing patterns of availability of nitrogen in the water. Mar. Biol. 69, 91–101 (1982)
Haines, E. B.: Stable carbon isotope ratios in the biota, soils and tidal water of a Georgia salt marsh. Estuar. coast. mar. Sci. 4, 609–616 (1976a)
Haines, E. B.: Relation between stable carbon isotope composition of fiddler crabs, plants and soils in a salt marsh. Limnol. Oceanogr. 21, 880–883 (1976b)
Haines, E. B.: The origins of detritus in Georgia salt marsh estuaries. Oikos 29, 254–260 (1977)
Harrison, P. G. and K. H. Mann: Chemical changes during the seasonal cycle of growth and decay in eelgrass (Zostera marina) on the Atlantic coast of Canada. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 32, 615–625 (1975a)
Harrison, P. G. and K. H. Mann: Detritus formation from eelgrass (Zostera marina L.): the relative effects of fragmentation, leaching and decay. Limnol. Oceanogr. 20, 924–934 (1975b)
Hatcher, B. G., A. R. O. Chapman and K. H. Mann: An annual carbon budget for the kelp Laminaria longicruris. Mar. Biol. 44, 85–96 (1977)
Lowdon, J. A. and W. Dyck: Seasonal variations in the isotope ratios of carbon in maple leaves and other plants. Can. J. Earth Sci. 11, 79–88 (1974)
Mann, K. H.: Ecological energetics of the seaweed zone in a marine bay on the Atlantic coast of Canada I. Zonation and biomass of seaweeds. Mar. Biol. 12, 1–10 (1972a)
Mann, K. H.: Ecological energetics of the seaweed zone in a marine bay on the Atlantic coast of Canada II. Productivity of the seaweeds. Mar. Biol. 14, 199–209 (1972b)
McConnaughey, T. and C. P. McRoy: 13C label identifies eelgrass (Zostera marina) carbon in an Alaskan estuarine food web. Mar. Biol. 53, 263–269 (1979)
McMillan, C., P. L. Parker and B. Fry: 13C/12C ratios in seagrasses. Aquat. Bot. 9, 237–249 (1980)
Miller, R. J. and K. H. Mann: Ecological energetics of the seaweed zone in a marine bay on the Atlantic coast of Canada III. Energy transformations by sea urchins. Mar. Biol. 18, 99–114 (1973)
Mills, E. L., K. Pittman and F. C. Tan: Food web structure on the Scotian Shelf Eastern Canada: a study using 13C as a food-chain tracer. Rapp. P. V. Reun., Cons. int. Explor. Mer. 183, 111–118 (1984)
Minson, D. J., M. M. Ludlow and J. H. Troughton: Differences in natural carbon isotope ratios of milk and hair from cattle grazing tropical and temperate pastures. Nature, Lond. 256, 602 (1975)
Mook, W. G., J. C. Bommerson and W. H. Stavermann: Carbon isotope fractionation between dissolved bicarbonate and gaseous carbon dioxide. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 22, 169–175 (1974)
Osmond, C. B., N. Valaane, S. M. Haslam, P. Uotila and Z. Roksandic: Comparisons of δ13C values in leaves of aquatic macrophytes from different habitats in Britain and Finland: some implications for photosynthetic processes in aquatic plants. Oecologia (Berl.). 50, 117–124 (1981)
Park, R. and S. Epstein: Carbon isotope fraction during photosynthesis. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 21, 110–126 (1960)
Rau, G. and J. I. Hedges: Carbon 13 depletion in a hydrothermal vent mussel: suggestion of a chemosynthetic food source. Science, N.Y. 203, 648–649 (1979)
Robertson, A. I. and K. H. Mann: The role of isopods and amphipods in the initial fragmentation of eelgrass detritus in Nova Scotia. Canada. Mar. Biol. 59, 63–69 (1980)
Robinson, J. D., K. H. Mann and J. A. Novitsky: Conversion of the particulate fraction of seaweed detritus to bacterial biomass. Limnol. Oceanogr. 27, 1072–1079 (1982)
Schwinghamer, P., F. C. Tan and D. C. Gordon: Stable carbon isotope studies on the Pecks Cove mudflat ecosystem in the Cumberland Basin, Bay of Fundy. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 40 (Suppl. 1), 262–272 (1983)
Smith, B. N. and S. Epstein: Biogeochemistry of the stable isotopes of hydrogen and carbon in salt marsh biota. Plant Physiol. 46, 738–742 (1971)
Smith, B. N. and S. Epstein: Two categories of 13C/12C ratios for higher plants. Plant Physiol. 47, 380–384 (1971)
Stephenson, R. L.: A stable carbon isotope study of Chione (Austrovenus) stutchburyi and its food sources in the Avon-Heathcote Estuary. Dept. of Zoology, Univ. of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, Estuarine Research Report No. 22, 1980
Stephenson, R. L. and G. L. Lyon: Carbon-13 depletion in an estuarine bivalve: detection of marine and terrestrial food sources. Oecologia (Berl.) 55, 110–113 (1982)
Tan, F. C., G. J. Pearson and R. W. Walker: Sampling, extraction, and 13C/12C analysis of total dissolved CO2 in marine environments. Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, N.S., Canada, Report Series BI-R-73-16, 1973
Tan, F. C. and P. M. Strain. Organic carbon isotope ratios in recent sediments in the St. Lawrence estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Estuar. coast. mar. Sci. 8, 213–215 (1979)
Tan, F. C. and P. M. Strain: Sources, sinks and distribution of organic carbon in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 47, 125–132 (1983)
Tan, F. C. and A. Walton: The application of stable carbon isotope ratios as water quality indicators in coastal areas of Canada. In: Isotope ratios as pollutant source and behaviour indicators, pp 35–47. Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency 1975
Teeri, J. A. and D. A. Schoeller: δ13C values of an herbivore and the ratio of C3 to C4 plant carbon in its diet. Oecologia (Berl.) 39, 197–200 (1979)
Thayer, G. W., P. L. Parker, M. W. LaCroix and B. Fry: The stable carbon isotope ratio of some components of an eelgrass, Zostera marina, bed. Oecologia (Berl.) 35, 1–12 (1978)
Troughton, J. H. and K. H. Card. Carbon isotope fractionation by plants. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Physics and Engineering Lab publication R 380, 50 pp. 1972
Troughton, J. H., K. A. Card and D. H. Hendy: Photosynthetic pathways and carbon isotope discrimination by plants. Carnegie Inst. Washington, Yearb. 73, 768–780 (1974)
Whelan, T.: Stable carbon isotope fractionation in photosynthetic carbon metabolism. Ph.D. Thesis. Texas A&M Univ., College Station 1971
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by R. W. Doyle, Halifax
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stephenson, R.L., Tan, F.C. & Mann, K.H. Stable carbon isotope variability in marine macrophytes and its implications for food web studies. Marine Biology 81, 223–230 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393216
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00393216