Quadrat survey
Basal Resources Supporting Sub-Tropical Estuarine Food Webs
In the 1970's, Bill Odum and colleagues introduced evidence that sub-tropical and tropical estuarine food webs were supported primarily by a mangrove detritus-based resource pool, and this paradigm served as the model for estuarine food web research for almost two decades. Over the last decade, however, stable isotope ratios have served as the primary tool to overturn this paradigm. Although results vary among systems and geographic regions, the balance of evidence now suggests that other basal resource pools are the primary energy sources in sub-tropical or tropical mangrove fish communities. Yet if not mangrove detritus, what basal resource(s) support the productive fisheries typically associated with mangroves? In work with Jake Allgeier (University of Georgia) and Amy Rosemond (University of Georgia), we are attempting to answer this question using a series of methodologies, including labeled isotope tracer addition experiments. Such work will help to re-define or understanding on mangrove-dominated ecosystems (and the food webs therein) and answer one of the longest standing questions in sub-tropical and tropical coastal/estuarine research.