Comparing trophic position of freshwater fish calculated using stable nitrogen isotope ratios (δ15N) and literature dietary data

Stable nitrogen isotope ratios (δ15N) are commonly used to represent the trophic structure of aquatic systems, yet the ability of δ15N to indicate the trophic position of aquatic consumers remains untested using traditional dietary methods. Interpreting the δ15N of aquatic consumers relative to large, long-lived primary consumers such as unionid mussels provides a continuous measure of an organism's trophic position that adjusts for among-system variation in baseline δ15N. We used this method to estimate the trophic position by compiling literature dietary data from 342 populations of these same fish species and calculated a continuous measure of trophic position for each population. Mean dietary trophic position estimates corresponded closely to 15N estimates, with mean trophic position ranging from 3.3 for pumpkinseed to 4.4 for walleye. Both methods indicated approximately one trophic level of variation among populations of a species. This study confirms the ability of baseline-adjusted δ15N to represent the trophic position of aquatic consumers. (author). 115 refs., 3 tabs., 2 figs