Production sources and food web of a macrophyte-dominated region in Lake Taihu, based on gut contents and stable isotope analyses

We estimated the food web linkages among primary producers, invertebrates and fish in a macrophyte-dominated region of a eutrophic lake (Lake Taihu) by analyzing gut contents and C and N stable isotope ratios. Observation of the gut contents reflected a variety of feeding modes among fish species that consume a diverse assortment of prey, with limited dietary overlap. Basal food sources were distinguishable based on their δ13C isotopic signatures, and wide seasonal variations of isotope values were observed in the lake biota with a general trend towards enriched δ13C and δ15N values in summer and depleted values in winter. This pattern could be explained by a combination of environmental (e.g., irradiance and nutrient inputs) and biotic (e.g., availability of food sources and plasticity in prey item choice) features. We adopted a paired (gut contents and stable isotopes) approach to reconstruct diets that used known food items as end members in the isotopic mixing model analysis and diagrammed the food web structure of Lake Taihu describing the organic matter pathways from primary producers to predators of the upper trophic levels. Our surveys also corroborate the finding that phytoplankton were the most important primary source of organic matter for fauna within this macrophyte-dominated lake region, whereas macrophytes also made a sizeable contribution for several invertebrate and fish species, especially in winter.