Otolith and muscle stable isotope analyses to assess food-web interactions between threatened bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) and invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
Data files
May 29, 2025 version files 181.06 KB
Abstract
Long-lived bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) are declining and a species of special concern in central Canada whose densities may be impacted by invasive common carp (Cyprinus carpio). In addition, the bigmouth buffalo is a culturally important species for the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council Member First Nations, who have harvested them since time immemorial. Here we analyzed d13C and d15N in bigmouth buffalo and common carp muscle tissue, along with bulk and compound-specific amino-acid d15N of otoliths, to examine the food-web interactions of species over the past 100 years. Stable isotope ratios of muscle tissue inferred that the fishes generally occupied different isotopic niches, with bigmouth buffalo exhibiting greater evidence of pelagic feeding (mean±SD; 88±22% and 42±13% in two lakes), and higher trophic position (3.6±0.3 and 3.8±0.3) than common carp (74±11% and 33±13%; 3.2±0.4 and 3.4±0.3, respectively). Overall, modern otolith isotope values agreed with paired muscle isotope values, while bulk otolith material exhibited increased d15N over a century. Apparent isotopic niche differentiation between the species may have arisen from ongoing niche displacement by common carp following watershed invasion ca. 1955. This competition may be more intense for larger bigmouth buffalo.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qs1t
Description of the data and file structure
otolith data_stable isotope_with overview header_Dryad.csv: otolith stable isotope data
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Échantillon: the sample ID run at the isotope facility
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otolith δ15N: otolith delta 15 Nitrogen – stable isotope measurement from otolith
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Muscle d15N: muscle delta 15 Nitrogen – stable isotope measurement from muscle tissue
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Muscle-Oto: Muscle d15N - otolith δ15N
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Taxon: species of fish
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Sample timeframe: timeframe of otolith subsample from start to end year
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Start: start year of otolith subsample
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End: end year of otolith subsample
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Midpoint: midpoint year of otolith subsample
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Era: era of year midpoint estimate (post-dam or pre-dam)
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Vial ID: the vial ID run at the isotope facility
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Sample type: otolith sample type (Complete, Early, or Late)
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Individual fish: ID of the individual fish
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Collected: Date fish was collected (d-month-yy)
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~Age: estimate age of the fish in years
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Masskg: mass of the fish in kilograms
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Sex: sex of the fish (F = female, M = Male)
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TLcm: total length of the fish in centimeters
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Location: Site of collection of the fish
Missing data: null
Note about yellow highlighting: yellow highlighted portions of rows indicate redundant biometric information for a given individual fish (listed 2X because of the Early vs. Late subsample from same individual fish)
muscle and baseline data_stable isotope_with overview header_Dryad.csv: muscle and baseline stable isotope data
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Date: sample collection date (d-month- yy)
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Group: broad taxonomic grouping of organism(s)
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Taxon: more specific taxonomic grouping of organism(s); BGBF = bigmouth buffalo; CMCR = common carp; POM = particulate organic matter
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Lake: lake of sample collection
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Location: more specific location of sample location within lake
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Specimen ID: ID of specimen, when available
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Sex: sex of fish, when available
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Length (cm): total length of fish in centimeters, when available
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Weight (kg): weight of fish in kilograms, when available
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Acoustic ID: acoustic ID of fish, when available
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d13C (muscle): delta 13C of muscle tissue
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d15N (muscle): delta 15N of muscle tissue
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d15N oto late: delta 15N of otolith (Late subsample), when available
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%C muscle: % Carbon in muscle tissue
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%N muscle: % Nitrogen in muscle tissue
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C/N muscle: Carbon to Nitrogen ratio in muscle tissue
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d’13C muscle: delta 13C (corrected) of muscle tissue (applying formula)
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% pelagic: % pelagic of organism derived from muscle tissue (applying formula)
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Baseline: baseline measure (applying formula) for trophic position estimation
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Trophic position: Trophic position of organism derived from muscle tissue (applying formula)
Missing data: null
CSIA-AA data_otolith_with overview header_Dryad.csv:
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IF ID: Isotope facility sample ID
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Fish ID: individual fish ID
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Location: Sample site (lake) where fish was collected
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Species: Species of fish
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bulk otolith d15N: bulk otolith delta15N
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bulk muscle d15N: bulk muscle delta15N
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Age: age estimate in years
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Mass (kg): mass of the fish in kilograms
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Tlength (cm): total length of the fish in centimeters
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Year interval: year interval estimate of otolith subsample based on the age estimate in years
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Trophic position: trophic position estimated from the otolith subsample (applying formula)
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Trophic Ala: Alanine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Trophic Asx: Aspartic acid (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Trophic Glx: Glutamic acid (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Trophic/Source Gly: Glycine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Trophic Ile: Isoleucine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Trophic Leu: Leucine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Source Lys: Lysine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Source Phe: Phenylalanine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Trophic Pro: Proline (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Trophic/Source Ser: Serine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Metabolic Thr: Threonine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Tyr: Tyrosine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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Trophic Val: Valine (amino acid) concentration as reported by the CSIA-AA facility
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mean carp: mean trophic position of common carp (applying formula)
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mean buffalo: mean trophic position of bigmouth buffalo (applying formula)
Missing data: null