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Many studies have concluded terrestrial carbon inputs contribute 20-70% of the carbon supporting zooplankton and fish production in lakes. Conversely, it is also known that terrestrial carbon inputs are of very low nutritional quality and phytoplankton are strongly preferentially utilized by zooplankton. Because of its low quality, substantial terrestrial support of zooplankton production in lakes is only conceivable when terrigenous organic matter inputs are much larger than algal production. We conducted a quantitative analysis of terrestrial carbon mass influx and algal primary production estimates for oligo/mesotrophic lakes (i.e., TP ≤ 20 µg L(-1)). In keeping with the principle of mass conservation, only the flux of terrestrial carbon retained within lakes can be utilized by zooplankton. Our field data compilation showed the median (inter-quartile range) terrestrial particulate organic carbon (t-POC), available dissolved organic carbon (t-DOC) inputs, and in-lake bacterial and algal production were 11 (8-17), 34 (11-78), 74 (37-165), and 253 (115-546) mg C m(-2) d(-1), respectively. Despite the widespread view that terrestrial inputs dominate the carbon flux of many lakes, our analysis indicates algal production is a factor 4-7 greater than the available flux of allochthonous basal resources in low productivity lakes. Lakes with high loading of t-DOC also have high hydraulic flushing rates. Because t-DOC is processed, i.e., mineralized or lost to the sediments, in lakes at ≈ 0.1% d(-1), in systems with the highest t-DOC inputs (i.e., 1000 mg m(-2) d(-1)) a median of 98% of the t-DOC flux is advected and therefore is not available to support zooplankton production. Further, advection is the primary fate of t-DOC in lakes with hydraulic retention times <3 years. When taking into account the availability and quality of terrestrial and autochthonous fluxes, this analysis indicates ≈ 95-99% of aquatic herbivore production is supported by in-lake primary production.

We collected suspended particulate matter (seston) and zooplankton samples from Lake Washington in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., over a 10-month period to investigate the effects of food availability on zooplankton fatty acid (FA) composition. The percentage of nutritionally critical omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the seston varied from 8% of the FA pool in midsummer to 30% during the spring diatom bloom. Zooplankton accumulated much higher percentages omega3 PUFA than was available in the seston. In particular, cladocerans preferentially accumulated eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5omega3), copepods accumulated docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6omega3), and both copepods and cladocerans accumulated 18 carbon chain omega3 PUFAs (C18 omega3). By comparison, the FA of zooplanktivorous juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) were strongly dominated by EPA (12.5% +/- 2.1%) and DHA (28.2% +/- 8.7%). The saturated fatty acid and the arachidonic acid (ARA, 20:4omega6) composition of Diaptomus ashlandi was strongly (r2 = 0.76) and moderately (r2 = 0.54) correlated with the prevalence of these FAs in the seston. Furthermore, the DHA content of Diaptomus was moderately correlated with the seston's DHA content (r2 = 0.45) and very strongly correlated with seston EPA (r2 = 0.89). Since EPA was the most prevalent PUFA in the seston and DHA was the most prevalent PUFA in Diaptomus, these results suggest that Diaptomus may synthesize DHA from the EPA in their food. In general, zooplankton species in Lake Washington were strongly enriched with those FA molecules that are most physiologically important for fish nutrition (i.e., ARA, EPA, and DHA), indicating a clear mechanism by which changes in seston composition influence fisheries ecology.

Terrestrial organic matter inputs have long been thought to play an important role in aquatic food web dynamics. Results from recent whole lake (13)C addition experiments suggest terrestrial particulate organic carbon (t-POC) inputs account for a disproportionate portion of zooplankton production. For example, several studies concluded that although t-POC only represented approximately 20% of the flux of particulate carbon available to herbivorous zooplankton, this food source accounted for approximately 50% of the C incorporated by zooplankton. We tested the direct dietary impact of t-POC (from the leaves of riparian vegetation) and various phytoplankton on Daphnia magna somatic growth, reproduction, growth efficiency, and lipid composition. By itself, t-POC was a very poor quality resource compared to cryptophytes, diatoms, and chlorophytes, but t-POC had similar food quality compared to cyanobacteria. Small additions of high quality Cryptomonas ozolinii to t-POC-dominated diets greatly increased Daphnia growth and reproduction. When offered alone, t-POC resulted in a Daphnia growth efficiency of 5 +/- 1%, whereas 100% Cryptomonas and Scenedesmus obliquus diets resulted in growth efficiencies of 46 +/- 8% (+/- SD) and 36 +/- 3%, respectively. When offered in a 50:50 mixed diet with Cryptomonas or Scenedesmus, the t-POC fraction resulted in a partial growth efficiency of 22 +/- 9% and 15 +/- 6%, respectively. Daphnia that obtained 80% of their available food from t-POC assimilated 84% of their fatty acids from the phytoplankton component of their diet. Overall, our results suggest Daphnia selectively allocate phytoplankton-derived POC and lipids to enhance somatic growth and reproduction, while t-POC makes a minor contribution to zooplankton production.

Determining the factors that control food web interactions is a key issue in ecology. The empirical relationship between nutrient loading (total phosphorus) and phytoplankton standing stock (chlorophyll a) in lakes was described about 30 years ago and is central for managing surface water quality. The efficiency with which biomass and energy are transferred through the food web and sustain the production of higher trophic levels (such as fish) declines with nutrient loading and system productivity, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here we show that in seston (fine particles in water) during summer, specific omega3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega3-PUFAs), which are important for zooplankton, are significantly correlated to the trophic status of the lake. The omega3-PUFAs octadecatetraenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid, but not alpha-linolenic acid, decrease on a double-logarithmic scale with increasing total phosphorus. By combining the empirical relationship between EPA-to-carbon content and total phosphorus with functional models relating EPA-to-carbon content to the growth and egg production of daphnids, we predict secondary production for this key consumer. Thus, the decreasing efficiency in energy transfer with increasing lake productivity can be explained by differences in omega3-PUFA-associated food quality at the plant-animal interface.

Emerging evidence suggests that zooplankton production is affected by physiological and nutritional constraints due to climate change and eutrophication, which in turn could have broad implications for food-web dynamics and fisheries production. In this study, we developed a resource-based zooplankton production dynamics model that causally links freshwater cladoceran and copepod daily production-to-biomass (P/B) ratios with water temperature, phytoplankton biomass and community composition, and zooplankton feeding selectivity. This model was used to evaluate constraints on zooplankton growth under four hypothetical scenarios: involving natural plankton community seasonal succession; lake fertilization to enhance fisheries production; eutrophication; and climatic warming. Our novel modeling approach predicts zooplankton production is strongly dependent on seasonal variation in resource availability and quality, which results in more complex zooplankton dynamics than predicted by simpler temperature-dependent models. For mesotrophic and hypereutrophic lakes, our study suggests that the ultimate control over zooplankton P/B ratios shifts from physiological control during colder periods to strong resource control during warmer periods. Our resource-based model provides important insights into the nature of biophysical control of zooplankton under a changing climate that has crucial implications for food web energy transfer and fisheries production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatty acid (FA) content and composition of zooplankton in Puget Sound, Washington (USA) was studied to investigate the nutritional quality of diverse zooplankton prey for juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in terms of their essential fatty acid (EFA) content. The study focus was on eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid (ARA) as these are key FA needed to maintain growth and development of juvenile fish. The different zooplankton taxa varied in their FA composition. Much of the variation in FA composition was driven by 18:1ω9 (a biomarker of carnivory), ARA, DHA, and FA characteristic of diatoms, which are linked to zooplankton diet sources. Gammarid and hyperiid amphipods contained the highest amount of EFA, particularly the gammarid amphipod Cyphocaris challengeri, while shrimp and copepods had much lower EFA content. Crab larvae, which are important prey for juvenile salmon in Puget Sound, had intermediate EPA + DHA content and the lowest DHA/EPA ratio, and were rich in diatom biomarkers. Temporal and spatial trends in zooplankton lipids were less apparent than the taxonomic differences, although the EFA content increased from spring to summer in Cancridae zoeae and the amphipod C. challengeri. These results on taxon-specific EFA content provide baseline information on the nutritional quality of zooplankton that can be applied in food web models. Combining zooplankton fatty acid data (quality) with taxon-specific zooplankton biomass data (quantity) enables development of new, sensitive indicators of juvenile fish production to help assess recent declines in salmon production in the Pacific Northwest and predict future adult returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The deuterium ratio (2H/1H) in tissue is often used to estimate terrestrial subsidies to aquatic consumers because of strongly differentiated values between terrestrial and aquatic primary producers. However, quantitative deuterium‐based analyses of terrestrial resource assimilation are highly dependent on several poorly defined assumptions. We explored the sensitivity of these estimates to assumptions regarding environmental water contributions to consumer deuterium content (ω) and algal photosynthetic hydrogen discrimination (εH). We also tested whether 13C/12C and 2H/1H‐based estimates of terrestrial resource assimilation give similar outcomes. The average of the 12 experiments that have directly estimated proportional contributions of environmental water to consumer tissue 2H/1H was 0.27 ± 0.11 (mean ± SD), with similar values for invertebrates and fish. Conversely, of the 28 field studies that have used 2H/1H to characterize aquatic food webs, all but one assume a value that is less than our current best estimate, usually substantially less. A reanalysis of the raw data from four recent case studies indicates the calculated terrestrial contribution to aquatic consumers is extremely sensitive to this assumption. When the authors’ original assumptions were used (i.e., ω = 0.16 ± 0.05), the estimated proportional contribution of terrestrial resources to aquatic consumers (θT) averaged 29 ± 17%, and when ω = 0.27 was used the average estimated assimilation of allochthonous resources was ≈0.00. A compilation of published photosynthetic hydrogen discrimination values for microalgae averaged εH = −150 ± 27‰ (SD, n = 99), and a sensitivity analysis showed the outcomes of these calculations were also strongly influenced by uncertainty in εH. There was no statistical association between 13C/12C and 2H/1H‐based estimates of terrestrial subsidies (r = −0.12, n = 274). This analysis indicates that the assumptions in deuterium‐based estimates of terrestrial resource assimilation are highly influential but poorly constrained; therefore, the impact of these assumptions on calculated outputs must be carefully assessed and thoroughly reported. Due to the highly uncertain assumptions inherent in deuterium‐based analyses, we urge much more caution when using this approach to estimate terrestrial subsidies to consumers in aquatic ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many freshwater systems receive substantial inputs of terrestrial organic matter. Terrestrially derived dissolved organic carbon (t-DOC) inputs can modify light availability, the spatial distribution of primary production, heat, and oxygen in aquatic systems, as well as inorganic nutrient bioavailability. It is also well-established that some terrestrial inputs (such as invertebrates and fruits) provide high-quality food resources for consumers in some systems., In small to moderate-sized streams, leaf litter inputs average approximately three times greater than the autochthonous production. Conversely, in oligo/mesotrophic lakes algal production is typically five times greater than the available flux of allochthonous basal resources., Terrestrial particulate organic carbon (t-POC) inputs to lakes and rivers are comprised of 80%-90% biochemically recalcitrant lignocellulose, which is highly resistant to enzymatic breakdown by animal consumers. Further, t-POC and heterotrophic bacteria lack essential biochemical compounds that are critical for rapid growth and reproduction in aquatic invertebrates and fishes. Several studies have directly shown that these resources have very low food quality for herbivorous zooplankton and benthic invertebrates., Much of the nitrogen assimilated by stream consumers is probably of algal origin, even in systems where there appears to be a significant terrestrial carbon contribution. Amino acid stable isotope analyses for large river food webs indicate that most upper trophic level essential amino acids are derived from algae. Similarly, profiles of essential fatty acids in consumers show a strong dependence on the algal food resources., Primary production to respiration ratios are not a meaningful index to assess consumer allochthony because respiration represents an oxidised carbon flux that cannot be utilised by animal consumers. Rather, the relative importance of allochthonous subsidies for upper trophic level production should be addressed by considering the rates at which terrestrial and autochthonous resources are consumed and the growth efficiency supported by this food., Ultimately, the biochemical composition of a particular basal resource, and not just its quantity or origin, determines how readily this material is incorporated into upper trophic level consumers. Because of its highly favourable biochemical composition and greater availability, we conclude that microalgal production supports most animal production in freshwater ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The zooplankton is a key link in the transfer of energy from primary producers up through aquatic food webs. Previous efforts to quantify the importance of basal resources to aquatic consumers have used stable isotopes ( SI) and simple ternary models, including only 'bulk' phytoplankton, bacteria or terrestrial particulate organic matter (t- POM)., We used a novel Bayesian mixing model based on fatty acids ( FA) to quantify the dietary assimilation of seven basal resources, including five phytoplankton groups, pelagic bacteria and t- POM, to Cladocera in large boreal lakes in Finland. To account for trophic enrichment of FA from the diet to consumers, we parameterised the model with a resource library, from many feeding trials, consisting of Daphnia magna fed 22 diverse basal taxa., The results of the feeding trials show that the distinctive FA profiles of algal groups are transferred to consumers. Moreover, the large number of FA variables ( n = 22) used in the model avoids the limitations of underdetermined mixing problems, common to SI modelling, in cases when the number of resources outnumbers the tracer variables., We show that cladocerans were generally supported by phytoplankton (86-94%), with little use of t- POM (1-9%) and bacteria (1-3%). Cladocerans used primarily high-quality phytoplankton (cryptophytes, diatoms and dinoflagellates) in both summer (51 ± 22%) and autumn (79 ± 12%), and the relative importance of medium-quality resources (cyanobacteria, chlorophytes and chrysophytes) declined from 37 ± 23% in the summer to 8 ± 2% in the autumn., High-quality resources, rich in essential biochemical compounds, are critical in fuelling food webs in large lakes, even those with high concentrations of allochthonous organic matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aquatic food web models typically treat the constituent trophic levels as static elements interacting with one another and the environment. Dynamic biological stoichiometry has relaxed this assumption and considers evolutionary responses in said elements. The incorporation of organismal response in food web models holds promise for a more realistic portrayal of ecosystem dynamics. Recent advances in aquatic ecology pinpoint the importance of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) on food web interactions and ecosystem resilience. In this study, we utilized a HUFA explicit submodel in conjunction with a limiting nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton–detritus (NPZD) mathematical system to incorporate elements of the physiology of individual animals into the context of plankton dynamics. Our HUFA-augmented plankton model provided a realistic platform to examine functional properties and physiological strategies that modulate resource procurement in different trophic environments and to effectively link variability at the organismal level with ecosystem-scale patterns. First, we were able to illustrate the implications of the filling-cup hypothesis, in which species’ fitness stems from dynamic HUFA turnover rates in response to bottom-up stresses. We then examined an evolutionary hypothesis of consumer fitness dependence on HUFA quota management strategies, whereby adaptive individuals with low HUFA minimum and optimum requirements gain competitive advantage. Several studies have reported higher HUFA concentrations in consumers than producers, and our results suggest that this pattern could be driven by a combination of conservative turnover and elevated bioconversion rates. Oligotrophic settings showed strong reliance upon exogenous phosphorus subsidies and frequently yielded inverted food web biomass distributions. With the prevalence of eutrophic conditions, consumer growth is primarily controlled by HUFA availability, and the associated biochemical limitation can ultimately result in patterns of algal accumulation. Finally, our study discusses directions to improve the representation of the producer–grazer interactions and thus advance our understanding of the factors that determine the flow of nutrients and energy to the higher trophic levels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

1. Analyses of zooplankton fatty acid (FA) composition in laboratory experiments and samples collected from lakes in New Zealand spanning a wide gradient of productivity were used to assess the extent to which FAs might infer their diet. We used the cladocerans, Daphnia and Ceriodaphnia, and the calanoid copepod, Boeckella, as test organisms, and monocultures of cryptophytes, chlorophytes and cyanobacteria as food. Based on reproductive success, cryptophytes were the highest food quality, chlorophytes were intermediate and cyanobacteria the poorest. 2. Several FA groups were highly correlated between zooplankton and their diets. They were monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and ω3 and ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for cladocerans, and saturated fatty acids (SAFAs) and ω3 PUFAs for copepods. Several FAs varied significantly less in the zooplankton than in their monoculture diets, e.g. MUFAs in Daphnia, and ω3 and ω6 PUFAs in Ceriodaphnia, despite clear dietary dependency for these FAs. 3. Zooplankton collected from lakes in New Zealand had more eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) ( Daphnia), more highly unsaturated ω3 and ω6 FAs (C, C; Daphnia, Ceriodaphnia, Boeckella) and less ω3 C PUFAs ( Daphnia, Ceriodaphnia, Boeckella) and ω6 C PUFAs ( Daphnia, Ceriodaphnia) than measured in the same species reared on phytoplankton in the laboratory. 4. Analyses of FA composition of seston and freshwater zooplankton globally showed that, in general, zooplankton had a significantly higher proportion of arachidonic acid and EPA than seston, and copepods also had a higher percentage of docosahexaenoic acid than seston. 5. These results suggest that zooplankton selectively incorporate the most physiologically important FAs. This could be a consequence of preferential assimilation, selective feeding on more nutritious cells or locating and feeding within higher food quality food patches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a mechanistic model of nutrient, phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish interactions to test the effects of phytoplankton food quality for herbivorous zooplankton on planktonic food web processes. When phytoplankton food quality is high strong trophic cascades suppress phytoplankton biomass, the zooplankton can withstand intense zooplanktivory, and energy is efficiently transferred through the food web sustaining higher trophic level production. Low food quality results in trophic decoupling at the plant-animal interface, with phytoplankton biomass determined primarily by nutrient availability, zooplankton easily eliminated by fish predation, and poor energy transfer through the food web. At a given nutrient availability, food quality and zooplanktivory interact to determine zooplankton biomass which in turn determines algal biomass. High food quality resulted in intense zooplankton grazing which favored fast-growing phytoplankton taxa, whereas fish predation favored slow-growing phytoplankton. These results suggest algal food quality for herbivorous zooplankton can strongly influence the nature of aquatic food web dynamics, and can have profound effects on water quality and fisheries production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Complex environmental models are often criticized as being difficult to analyze and poorly identifiable due to their nonlinearities and/or their large number of parameters relative to data availability. Others consider overparameterized models to be useful, especially for predicting system dynamics beyond the conditions for which the model was calibrated. In this paper, we present a complex eutrophication model that has been developed to simulate plankton dynamics in Lake Washington, USA. Because this model is to be used for testing alternative managerial schemes, the inclusion of multiple elemental cycles (org. C, N, P, Si, O) and multiple functional phytoplankton (diatoms, green algae and cyanobacteria) and zooplankton (copepods and cladocerans) groups was deemed necessary. The model also takes into account recent advances in stoichiometric nutrient recycling theory, and the zooplankton grazing term was reformulated to include algal food quality effects on zooplankton assimilation efficiency. The physical structure of the model is simple and consists of two spatial compartments representing the lake epilimnion and hypolimnion. Global sensitivity analysis showed background light attenuation, the maximum phytoplankton growth rate, the phytoplankton basal metabolic rate, the zooplankton maximum grazing rate and the grazing half saturation constant have the greatest impact on model behavior. Phytoplankton phosphorus stoichiometry (maximum and minimum internal concentrations, maximum uptake rate) interacts with these parameters and determines the plankton dynamics (epilimnetic and hypolimnetic phytoplankton biomass, proportion of cyanobacteria and total zooplankton biomass). Sensitivity analysis of the model forcing functions indicated the importance of both external and internal loading for simulating epilimnetic and hypolimnetic plankton dynamics. These results will be used to calibrate the model, to reproduce present chemical and biological properties of Lake Washington and to test this lake''s potential response to different external nutrient loading scenarios. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Features a study that tested the hypothesis that sockeye salmon in Lake Washington, Washington experience growth limitation because of content of phosphorus or specific essential fatty acids in their diet. Equations and parameter values for the bioenergetics model; Potential for food quality limitation of growth; Ratios of phosphorus to carbon for both sockeye salmon and zooplankton.

The impact of nutrient additions, zooplankton grazing and light intensity on phytoplankton net growth with depth and season was studied with five microcosm experiments in meso-oligotrophic, subalpine Castle Lake, California, during the period of summer stratification in June-September 1994. The incubations (4 day) were performed at 5 m intervals from the surface to the bottom using natural phytoplankton and zooplankton assemblages, with enrichments of phosphorus and nitrogen. The phytoplankton community was only limited by nutrients in the upper 5 m (epilimnion), as indicated by change in chlorophyll concentration. Nutrient enrichments had the greatest effect on the phytoplankton net growth in June and July. High light inhibited the phytoplankton net growth at the surface. Low light intensities limited phytoplankton at 20 m and below, and at the end of the growing season already around 10-15 m. A deep chlorophyll maximum in the hypolimnion in June-August was not limited by either light or nutrients. The results showed variation in grazers' impact on phytoplankton. These results suggest the importance of nutrient limitation only in the epilimnion with light inhibition at the surface, light limitation in the hypolimnion, and varying impact of zooplankton grazing in influencing the development of the phytoplankton in Castle Lake. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

1. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are almost exclusively synthesized by plants. Animals can convert from one form of PUFA to another through elongation and desaturation, but very few can synthesize PUFA de novo. PUFA play an important role in regulating cell membrane properties, serve as precursors for important animal hormones and are essential for animals. 2. In aquaculture studies, highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA), a subset of PUFA, have been found to be critical for maintaining high growth, survival and reproductive rates and high food conversion efficiencies for a wide variety of marine and freshwater organisms. 3. The plankton literature suggests high food-quality algae species are rich in HUFA and low food-quality algae are poor in HUFA. Adding semi-pure emulsions of HUFA to algae monocultures can markedly increase the growth rates of zooplankton feeding on these mixtures. 4. A study measuring zooplankton biomass accrual when feeding on natural phytoplankton found a strong correlation between phytoplankton HUFA (specifically eicosapentaenoic acid) content and herbivorous zooplankton production. 5. The aquatic ecology literature suggests that planktonic foodwebs with high HUFA content phytoplankton have high zooplankton to phytoplankton biomass ratios, while systems with low HUFA phytoplankton have low zooplankton biomass. Also, the seasonal succession of plankton in many temperate lakes follows patterns tied to phytoplankton HUFA content, with intense zooplankton grazing and 'clear-waterphases' characteristic of periods when the phytoplankton is dominated by HUFA-rich species. 6. Herbivorous zooplankton production is constrained by the zooplankton's ability to ingest and digest phytoplankton. It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that much of the phytoplankton which is assimilated may be nutritionally inadequate. HUFA may be key nutritional constituents of zooplankton diets, and may determine energetic efficiency across the plant-animal interface, secondary production and the strength of trophic coupling in aquatic pelagic foodwebs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Many efforts have been made to incorporate our improved understanding of zooplankton physiology and behaviour into mathematical models. The increased complexity, however, has been a major impediment in integrating these advances into management-oriented models and thus bridging the gap between theoretical and applied ecology. In this study, we enhance an existing eutrophication model with a zooplankton somatic growth submodel that simulates the interplay among nitrogen, phosphorus, and highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) through the grazers’ digestive tracks. We calibrate the newly incorporated parameters (and associated processes) against observed data from the mesotrophic Lake Washington. We extrapolate the model to different trophic environments and tease out the underlying drivers of zooplankton growth. Our analysis suggests that both stoichiometric and HUFA based somatic growth limitations can modulate the zooplankton biomass in mesotrophic environments. Food abundance and mineral P limitation are critical factors of zooplankton growth under oligotrophic conditions, while HUFA availability is the main driving force of plankton dynamics in eutrophic states. Our zooplankton submodel downplays pre-gut regulation in favour of post-gut metabolic processing, which appears to shift the bulk of the non-limiting nutrient recycling from particulate to dissolved form. The homeostatic maintenance of somatic quotas and the dynamic nutrient recycling could also be an important mechanism for shedding light on the controversial hypothesis that the enrichment of natural ecosystems is a destabilizing factor of food web dynamics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Lake size influences various hydrological parameters, such as water retention time, circulation patterns and thermal stratification that can consequently affect the plankton community composition, benthic–pelagic coupling and the function of aquatic food webs. Although the socio-economical (particularly commercial fisheries) and ecological importance of large lakes has been widely acknowledged, little is known about the availability and trophic transfer of polyunsaturated fatty (PUFA) in large lakes. The objective of this study was to investigate trophic trajectories of PUFA in the pelagic food web (seston, zooplankton, and planktivorous fish) of six large boreal lakes in the Finnish Lake District. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA) were the most abundant PUFA in pelagic organisms, particularly in the zooplanktivorous fish. Our results show that PUFA from the n-3 family (PUFAn-3), often associated with marine food webs, are also abundant in large lakes. The proportion of DHA increased from ~ 4 ± 3% in seston to ~ 32 ± 6% in vendace ( Coregonus albula ) and smelt ( Osmerus eperlanus ), whereas ALA showed the opposite trophic transfer pattern with the highest values observed in seston (~ 11 ± 2%) and the lowest in the opossum shrimp ( Mysis relicta ) and fish (~ 2 ± 1%). The dominance of diatoms and cryptophytes at the base of the food web in the study lakes accounted for the high amount of PUFAn-3 in the planktonic consumers. Furthermore, the abundance of copepods in the large lakes explains the effective transfer of DHA to planktivorous fish. The plankton community composition in these lakes supports a fishery resource (vendace) that is very high nutritional quality (in terms of EPA and DHA contents) to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]