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# Large pike connected littoral and pelagic food webs by changing diets through life
- URL: https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/2026-09-27-pike-lifetime-energetic-coupling/
- Published: 2026-09-27T11:16:14.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-27T11:16:14.000Z
- Author: Benjamin Worlund
- Tags: pike, Food webs, ontogeny, stable isotopes, Lake Bourget, Freshwater, Wildlife, #ecological-intelligence, #brief-2026-09-27, #global-radar, #peer-reviewed, #geo-europe

Evidence

Peer-reviewed

Geography

Lake Bourget, France

System

Large lake littoral and pelagic food webs

## WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Sequential stable-isotope measurements from eye lenses of 17 large pike reconstructed lifetime resource use. Every fish showed a major littoral-to-pelagic dietary shift, but the timing and extent differed among individuals; median lifetime littoral reliance was 52.5%.

## WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

Food-web coupling can be generated by ontogeny rather than by a species occupying the same trophic role throughout life. Population models that average individuals may hide when and how top predators move energy between habitats.

## CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

The study is retrospective and based on 17 large pike from one lake. Eye-lens isotope trajectories infer resource pathways rather than directly tracking movement, and results should not be generalized to all pike populations or lake types.

## SOURCE

Freshwater Biology  
[View original evidence ↗](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/fwb.70311?ref=intelligence.wildlandseco.com)

From the Morning Brief · 2026-09-27

[Read the full Morning Brief →](https://intelligence.wildlandseco.com/morning-brief-2026-09-27/)