Abstract

I am proposing a food web-based approach to the study of ecosystem integrity and biodiversity in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Bay Delta, California. Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen (13C and 15N) provide an energy-based measure of food web relationships in aquatic systems. This new approach to addressing problems in aquatic conservation can contribute significantly to aquatic conservation in a number of ways. For example, food webs represent a rarely appreciated level of biodiversity, although I argue that conservation efforts will benefit from setting priorities based on the integrity and diversity of food webs. Food web structure of aquatic ecosystems is sensitive to perturbation such as invasive species; consequently, the food web approach can be used to quantify the impacts of invasive species and environmental degradation on aquatic ecosystems. Finally, I propose to examine to what extent the food web structure of an ecosystem influences the resistance and resilience of that system to invasive species. Food web information may be useful in making predictions about which invasive species will invade and whether they will have significant ecological impacts.

Publications

Vander Zanden, M.J., and R.B. Rasmussen. 2002. Food web perspectives on studies of bass populations in north-temperate lakes. Pages 173-184 in D.P. Philipp and M.S. Ridgway, editors. Black bass: Ecology, conservation and management. American Fisheries Society Symposium 31, Bethesda, Maryland.

Vander Zanden, M. J., Y. Vadeboncoeur. 2002. Fishes as integrators of benthic and pelagic food webs in lakes. Ecology 83: 2152-2161.

Sarakinos, H. C., M. B. Johnson, and M. J. Vander Zanden. 2002. The effect of preservation on stable isotope signatures of freshwater fish and invertebrates. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80:381-387.

Vadeboncouer, Y. M, M. J. Vander Zanden, and D. M. Lodge. 2002. Putting the lake back together: reintegrating benthic pathways into lake food web models. BioScience 52: 44-54.

Vander Zanden, M. J., and J. B. Rasmussen. 1999. Primary consumer ?15N and ?13C and the trophic position of aquatic consumers. Ecology 80:1395-1404

Vander Zanden, M. J., B. J. Shuter, N. P. Lester, and J. B. Rasmussen. 2000. Within- and among-population variation in the trophic position of the pelagic top predator, lake trout. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 57:725-731.

Vander Zanden, J. M. Casselman, and J. B. Rasmussen. 1999. Stable isotope evidence for food web shifts following species invasions of lakes. Nature 401: 464-467.

Vander Zanden, M. J., N. P. Lester, B. J. Shuter, and J. B. Rasmussen. 1999. Patterns of food chain length in lakes: a stable isotope study. American Naturalist 154: 406-416.

Vander Zanden, M. J., and J. B. Rasmussen. 1999. Primary consumer d15N and d13C and the trophic position of aquatic consumers. Ecology 80:1395-1404.

Vadeboncouer, Y., E. Jeppesen, H. Schierup, K. Christoffersen, M. J. Vander Zanden, and D. M. Lodge. Cultural eutrophication and the loss of benthic energy pathways in lakes. Limnology and Oceanography, in press.

Vander Zanden, M.J, S. Chandra, B. C. Allen, J. E. Reuter, and C. R. Goldman. Historical food web structure of Lake Tahoe (CA-NV) and the restoration of native fish communities. Ecosystems, in press.

Vander Zanden, M.J., K. A. Wilson, J. M. Casselman. Species invasions in shield lakes of North America. In Shield waters: Global change and challenges (eds. J Gunn, R. Ryder, R. Steedman). Lewis Publishers. in press.

Rasmussen, J. B., and M. J. Vander Zanden. 2002. The variability of lake food webs: its effect on trophic transfer of contaminants. In Food Webs at the Landscape Level (eds. G.A. Polis, M.E. Power, G.R. Huxel) University of Chicago Press, Chicago. In press.

Vander Zanden, M. J. and D. M. Sanzone. 2002. Food web dynamics across the water-land interface. In Food Webs at the Landscape Level (eds. G.A. Polis, M.E. Power, G.R. Huxel) University of Chicago Press, Chicago. in press.

Vadeboncouer, Y., K.S. McCann, J.B. Rasmussen, and M.J. Vander Zanden. In review. Effects of multi-chain omnivory on the strength and stability of trophic control.

Vander Zanden, M. J., J. D. Olden, J. H. Thorne, and N. E. Mandrak. In review. Predicting the occurrence and impact of bass introductions in north-temperate lakes.