Trophic relationships in an estuarine environment: A quantitative fatty acid analysis signature approach

• A quantitative model of aquatic food web was elucidated using QFASA.
• Heleobia australis seems to play a central role in this estuarine ecosystem.
• A characteristic complex food web was observed in Rocha Lagoon.

In order to better understand the functioning of aquatic environments, it is necessary to obtain accurate diet estimations in food webs. Their description should incorporate information about energy flow and the relative importance of trophic pathways. Fatty acids have been extensively used in qualitative studies on trophic relationships in food webs. Recently a new method to estimate quantitatively single predator diet has been developed. In this study, a model of aquatic food web through quantitative fatty acid signature analysis was generated to identify the trophic interactions among the species in the Rocha Lagoon. The biological sampling over two consecutive annual periods was comprehensive enough to identify all functional groups in the aquatic food web (except birds and mammals). Heleobia australis seemed to play a central role in this estuarine ecosystem. As both, a grazer and a prey to several other species, probably H. australis is transferring a great amount of energy to upper trophic levels. Most of the species at Rocha Lagoon have a wide range of prey items in their diet reflecting a complex food web, which is characteristic of extremely dynamic environment as estuarine ecosystems. QFASA is a model in tracing and quantitative estimate trophic pathways among species in an estuarine food web. The results obtained in the present work are a valuable contribution in the understanding of trophic relationships in Rocha Lagoon.

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