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stable isotopes

Peer-reviewed Africa

Benguela krill are not one interchangeable link in the food web

Evidence
Peer-reviewed
Geography
Benguela Current upwelling system, Namibia and South Africa
System
Coastal upwelling; krill assemblages; food-web structure

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Researchers identified 15 euphausiid species and compared stable isotopes and fatty-acid biomarkers across northern/southern and nearshore/offshore sectors. Euphausia lucens dominated much of the system, but community composition and diets differed. Estimated trophic positions spanned approximately 2–3.7, with larvae largely herbivorous and some adults, including Stylocheiron, predominantly carnivorous.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

If survey models treat all krill biomass as an identical transfer from plankton to fish, they can miss diet and habitat differences that shape food-web response. Species and life-stage composition matter.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

Biomarkers infer feeding roles and are subject to baseline and sampling assumptions. This study does not directly demonstrate changes in fish recruitment or ecosystem recovery.

SOURCE

Jordan et al. · Frontiers in Marine Science · Benguela trophic-ecology study (15 Oct 2026)
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Fifteen species spanned spatial habitats and trophic roles along the Namibia–South Africa upwelling system.

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Peer-reviewed Europe

Large pike connected littoral and pelagic food webs by changing diets through life

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
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EvidencePeer-reviewedGeographyLake Bourget, FranceSystemLarge 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

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