| Abstract: | Detritus from terrestrial ecosystems is the major source of organic matter in many streams, rivers, and estuaries, yet the role of detritus in supporting pelagic food webs is debated. We examined the importance of detritus to secondary productivity in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Delta (California, United States), a large complex of tidal freshwater habitats. The Delta ecosystem has low primary productivity but large detrital inputs, so we hypothesized that detritus is the primary energy source fueling production in pelagic food webs. We assessed the sources, quantity, composition, and bioavailability of organic matter among a diversity of habitats (e.g., marsh sloughs, floodplains, tidal lakes, and deep river channels) over two years to test this hypothesis. Our results support the emerging principle that detritus dominates riverine and estuarine organic matter supply and supports the majority of ecosystem metabolism. Yet in contrast to prevailing ideas, we found that detritus was weakly coupled to the Delta‘s pelagic food web. Results from independent approaches showed that phytoplankton production was the dominant source of organic matter for the Delta‘s pelagic food web, even though primary production accounts for a small fraction of the Delta‘s organic matter supply. If these results are general, they suggest that the value of organic matter to higher trophic levels, including species targeted by programs of ecosystem restoration, is a function of phytoplankton production. ?? 2005 Estuarine Research Federation. |
| Genre: | Article |
| ProdID: | 70029434 |
| Citation Author: | Sobczak, W. V.; Cloern, J. E.; Jassby, A. D.; Cole, B. E.; Schraga, T. S.; Arnsberg, A. |
| Citation Contributing Office: | |
| Citation Datum: | |
| Citation Day: | |
| Citation Edition: | |
| Citation Editor: | |
| Citation End Page: | 137 |
| Citation Issue: | 1 |
| Citation Keywords: | |
| Citation Language: | English |
| Citation Larger Work Title: | Estuaries |
| Citation LatN: | |
| Citation LatS: | |
| Citation LonE: | |
| Citation LonW: | |
| Citation Month: | |
| Citation No Pagination: | |
| Citation Number Of Pages: | 14 |
| Citation Online Only Flag: | |
| Citation Phsyical Description: | |
| Citation Projection: | |
| Citation Public Comments: | |
| Citation Publisher: | |
| Citation Series: | |
| Citation Series Code: | |
| Citation Series Number: | |
| Citation Search Results Text: | Detritus fuels ecosystem metabolism but not metazoan food webs in San Francisco estuary‘s freshwater delta; 2005; Article; Journal; Estuaries; Sobczak, W. V.; Cloern, J. E.; Jassby, A. D.; Cole, B. E.; Schraga, T. S.; Arnsberg, A. |
| Citation Start Page: | 124 |
| Citation Volume: | 28 |
| Citation Year: | 2005 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | Detritus fuels ecosystem metabolism but not metazoan food webs in San Francisco estuary‘s freshwater delta; 2005; Article; Journal; Estuaries; Sobczak, W. V.; Cloern, J. E.; Jassby, A. D.; Cole, B. E.; Schraga, T. S.; Arnsberg, A. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg |
| Date Other: | Sat, 1 Jan 2005 00:00 -0600 |
| Publisher: | |
