Widespread natural intraspecific variation in tissue stoichiometry of two freshwater molluscs: Effect of nutrient enrichment |
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| Institution: | 1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510301, PR China;2. Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, PR China;1. Donghu Experimental Station of Lake Ecosystems, State Key Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology of China, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, PR China;2. College of Animal Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, PR China;3. College of Horticulture and Garden, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, PR China;1. School of Geography, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Malaysia;2. CIIMAR/CIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal;3. Research Laboratory, North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences, 1671 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA;4. CBMA - Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal;5. Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kenyir Research Institute, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia;6. Department of Aquatic Science, Faculty of Resource Science & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia;7. Museum of Zoology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;8. Ecology and Biodiversity Program, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;9. School of Geography, University Park, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG72RD, UK |
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| Abstract: | A central premise of ecological stoichiometry is that consumers maintain relatively fixed elemental composition in their bodies, a process known as elemental homoeostasis. Although nutrient enrichment is a ubiquitous problem facing many freshwater lakes around the world, intraspecific variation in elemental composition of freshwater invertebrates and its relationship with nutrient loading have not been well addressed. Here, we examined carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus (C:N:P) stoichiometry of two widely distributed molluscs, Corbicula fluminea and Bellamya aeruginosa, from several subtropical shallow lakes across a nutrient gradient. Our results showed that these two species exhibited substantial natural intraspecific variation in tissue stoichiometry which can reach or even exceed the values among different freshwater taxa investigated before. Our results suggest that tissue P content presents the greatest variations, followed by N content, and lowest in C content. Tissue P content ranged about three-fold (0.56%–1.65%) and five-fold (0.41%–2.28%) for B. aeruginosa and C. fluminea, respectively. Correspondingly, N content ranged from 5.16% to 12.06% and from 6.47 to 11.36%, respectively. Tissue %P, C:P and N:P ratios were strongly correlated with PO43?-P and/or chlorophyll-a in the water column. Tissue N and P contents of B. aeruginosa and P content of C. fluminea increased with increasing lake trophic levels (mesotrophic to eutrophic to hypertrophic). These results suggest that the two molluscs can adjust their tissue stoichiometry in relation to nutrient enrichment. Relaxing the assumption of strict homeostasis may help them cope with potential stoichiometric constraints. The results provide additional clues to why these two species are successful invaders and widely distributed. |
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| Keywords: | Ecological stoichiometry Homoeostasis Mollusca Eutrophication Shallow lakes |
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