Study Regarding the Olt River (Romania)
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Acta Ichtiologica Romanica I USE OF SOME STABLE ISOTOPES (δ13 C AND δ15 N) IN ANALYSING THE FOOD WEB OF THE ROUND GOBY APOLLONIA MELANOSTOMUS (PALLAS, 1814) ON THE ROMANIAN COAST (BLACK SEA) Daniela BANARU 1, Mihaela CREŢEANU 2 and Mireile HARMELIN-VIVIEN 1 KEYWORDS : Black Sea, round goby, food web, stable isotopes, carbon sources. ABSTRACT The terrestrial inputs of the Danube gastropods, amphipods, macrurids, River, added to the nutrients already present brachyurans, sprat) showed a wide range of in the marine environment, influence δ15 N (6.20‰ to 15.53‰) and δ13 C considerably the productivity and (- 29.79‰ to - 16.65‰) suggesting that functioning of the ecosystems from the Apollonia melanostomus consumed preys of north-western part of the Black Sea. Stable different trophic levels and organic sources. isotopes constitute a powerful tool for Stable isotope analyses S. I. A. discriminating between marine and provided an integrated picture of the terrestrial carbon sources. resources used by the round goby for its The feeding behaviour of the round growth. The average signature was - 18.20‰ goby Apollonia melanostomus (Pallas, 1814) in δ13 C and 14.34‰ in δ15 N. A significant was studied on the Romanian coast on 640 positive correlation was observed between specimens from 21 stations in 2004 - 2005. spatial and temporal variations of the marine The use of carbon and nitrogen stable POM and the round goby signatures. isotopes provided a more detailed picture of Changes in the food behaviour of Apollonia Apollonia melanostomus food web structure melanostomus in correlation with spatial and a good evidence of trophic transfers. localisations and season were reflected by The components of the round goby food variations of stable isotope signatures. web (macrophytes, polychaetes, bivalves, REZUMAT : Utilizarea izotopilor stabili (δ13 C şi δ15 N) în analiza reţelei trofice a strunghilului Apollonia melanostomus (Pallas, 1814) la litoralul românesc (Marea Neagră). Aporturile terestre ale Dunării se şprot) prezintă o gamă largă de variaţie a adaugă nutrienţilor deja prezenţi în mediul δ15 N (între 9.26‰ şi 14.61‰) şi δ13 C (între marin influenţând productivitatea şi - 24.59‰ şi - 17.38‰), ceea ce sugerează că funcţionarea ecosistemelor din NV Mării această specie consumă prăzi de diferite Negre. Izotopii stabili constituie o metodă nivele trofice şi surse organice. importantă pentru diferenţierea surselor Analizele de izotopi stabili oferă o terestre şi marine ale carbonului. imagine integrată a resurselor utilizate de Comportamentul trofic al lui strunghil pentru creşterea sa. Semnătura Apollonia melanostomus (Pallas, 1814) a medie a acestei specii este - 18.66‰ pentru fost studiat la 640 de indivizi din 21 de staţii δ13 C şi 14.40‰ pentru δ15 N. O corelaţie în 2004 - 2005 la litoralul românesc. pozitivă semnificativă a fost observată între Utilizarea izotopilor stabili ai carbonului şi variaţiile spaţiale şi temporale ale semnăturii azotului oferă imaginea structurii reţelei MOP marină şi a strunghilului. Schimbări trofice a acestei specii şi evidenţiază ale comportamentului alimentar ale acestuia transferurile trofice. Elementele acestei în funcţie de zonă şi sezon au fost reflectate reţele trofice (macrofite, polichete, bivalve, prin variaţiile semnăturilor în izotopi stabili. gasteropode, amfipode, macroure, brahiure, (δ13 C and δ15 N) stable isotopes in Apollonia melanostomus food web analyse; 1/14 pp. - 1 - AIR I . 13 15 RESUME : Utilisation d’isotopes stables (δ C et δ N) dans l’analyse du reseau trophique du gobie à taches noires, Apollonia melanostomus (Pallas, 1814 ) sur la cote roumaine (Mer Noire). Les apports terrestres du Danube, crabes brachyoures, sprat) présentent une ajoutés aux nutriments déjà présents dans grande variation de δ15 N (6.20‰ à 15.53‰) l’environnement marin influencent et de δ13 C (- 29.79‰ à - 16.65‰) ce qui considérablement la productivité et le suggère que Apollonia melanostomus fonctionnement des ecosystems du nord- consomme des proies appartenant à ouest de la Mer Noire. Les isotopes stables différents niveaux trophiques et tributaires constituent un outil puissant pour de différentes sources de matières organiques. discriminer les deux sources de carbones Les analyse S. I. A des isotopes marine et terrestre. stables fournissent une vision intégrée des Le comportement de nourrissage du resources utilisées par le gobie à taches Gobie à taches noires Apollonia noires pour sa croissance. La signature melanostomus (Pallas, 1814) a été étudié sur moyenne était de - 18.20‰ en δ13 C et la côte roumaine sur 640 specimens 14.34‰ en δ15 N. Une corrélation positive a provenant de 21 stations en 2004 - 2005. été observée entre les variations spatiales et L’utilisation des isotopes stables de carbone temporelles de la matière organique et d’azote permet de dresser un tableau plus particulaire et la signature du Gobie à taches détaillé de la structure du réseau trophique noires. Les modifications dans le de Apollonia melanostomus et de mettre en comportement de nourrissage de Apollonia évidence certains transferts. Les composants melanostomus en correlation avec la localisation du réseau trophique du Gobie à taches noires spatiale et la saison sont reflétées par les (macrophytes, polychètes, bivalves, variations des signatures en isotopes stables. gastéropodes, amphipodes, macrouridés, INTRODUCTION The main objective of this study was where it can reach high abundances. to describe the structure of the trophic web Apollonia melanostomus is a bottom-feeding of the Apollonia melanostomus (Pallas, fish consuming bivalves, snails, crustaceans, 1814) on the Romanian Black Sea coast and polychaetes and small fish (Wandzel, 2003; to understand the respectives roles of the Skora and Rzeznik, 2001; Ray and Corkum, marine particulate organic matter (MPOM) 1997; Charlebois et al., 1996). In the Black and Danubian terrestrial particulate organic Sea, 80% of the round goby diet were matter (TPOM) in his functioning of the represented by molluscs (Nikolskii, 1954). coastal ecosystem. On the Romanian Black Sea coast Porumb Gobiids present economic interest for (1961) and Bănărescu (1964) studied the the demersal fisheries in the north-west part of trophic behaviour of this species which mainly the Black Sea. The Romanian annual average consumed molluscs, polychaetes, crustaceans . catch of the gobiids from 1970 to 2002 is The Danube River (6000 m 3s-1) is 25.6 tonnes / year (Nicolaev et. al., 2004). the second largest river in Europe after the The round goby Apollonia Volga River and represents 38% of the fresh melanostomus , a Ponto-Caspian species water inputs into the Black Sea (Panin, occurring in the Black, Caspian, Aral and 1997). It has a high impact on the Baltic seas presents a high ecological sedimentation and on marine ecosystems in adaptability. Its introduction and rapid the north-western part of the Black Sea spread in several countries was reported by (Gomoiu, 1996). Preliminary stable isotopes different authors as well as its adverse analysis (Banaru et al., in press) showed a ecological impact in Canadian lakes (French strong influence of the Danubian matter on and Jude, 2001; Jude et. al., 1992; 1995; marine ecosystems components (water, Vangerplorg et. al., 2002). The round goby sediment and organisms) from the prefers rocky and debris-filled substrates Romanian coast. - 2 - D. Banaru, M. Creţeanu and M. Harmelin-Vivien Acta Ichtiologica Romanica I The transfer of the TPOM from the et. al., 1999; Kaehler et. al., 2000; Polunin river into marine benthic food webs through et. al., 2001; Takai et. al., 2002). The deposit-feeding organisms has occasionally nitrogen isotope signature is used to define been considered (Salen-Picard and Arlhac, the trophic levels of organisms; the δ15 N 2002). Whereas the role of detritus as a food increasing from prey to predator vary from source for benthic invertebrates has long 2.5 to 4.5‰ (mean 3.4‰) (Minagawa and been recognised (Kemp, 1986; Mann, 1988), Wada, 1984; Post, 2002). As an increase in the utilisation of terrestrial POM by benthic δ13 C of only 1 - 2‰ occurs between prey invertebrates in estuaries was established and consumer (De Niro and Epstein, 1978; more recently using stable isotopes Wada et. al., 1991), a consumer carbon (Peterson et al., 1985; Riera et al., 1999; isotope composition can give clues about the Bouillon et al., 2000). Stable isotopes have sources of its diet, particularly in systems been used successfully to trace the transfer with two distinct organic sources (Fry and of organic matter of different origins Sherr, 1984). Terrestrial primary producers through aquatic food webs (Fry and Sherr, generally have lower δ13 C values than the 1984; Van der Zanden et. al., 1999; Kaehler marine ones (especially phytoplankton and et al., 2000; Pinnegar and Polunin, 2000). microphytobenthos), allowing the origin of Provided that primary producers have carbon in the POM pools of estuarine and distinct isotopic signatures, stable isotopes coastal areas to be traced (Haines and constitute a powerful tool for discriminating Montague, 1979; Riera and Richard, 1996; among carbon sources (Van der Zanden and Bouillon et. al., 2000). Rasmussen, 2001). In general, multiple- Used for the first time in the aquatic isotope approaches are required to identify ecology on the Romanian coasts, the the contribution of the different sources of proportion of stable isotopes of carbon organic matter (Peterson et al., 1985). The (13 C/ 12 C) and nitrogen ( 15 N/ 14