photo: Alukie Metuq
A Toolbox of Ecological Tracers
Aquatic predators can be highly mobile and feed as generalists on prey from a variety of habitats and trophic levels. This makes it challenging to study their diet using traditional methods alone (e.g. stomach contents).
We work with a variety of ecological tracers to study the diet and ecological role of aquatic consumers within their food web. These tracers include stable isotopes, fatty acids, mercury and trace elements.
Recently, we have started an exciting dive into emerging tracers including highly branched isoprenoids (HBIs) and compound specific stable isotopes of individual amino acids (SIA-AA).
Aquatic predators can be highly mobile and feed as generalists on prey from a variety of habitats and trophic levels. This makes it challenging to study their diet using traditional methods alone (e.g. stomach contents).
We work with a variety of ecological tracers to study the diet and ecological role of aquatic consumers within their food web. These tracers include stable isotopes, fatty acids, mercury and trace elements.
Recently, we have started an exciting dive into emerging tracers including highly branched isoprenoids (HBIs) and compound specific stable isotopes of individual amino acids (SIA-AA).
Related Publications:
Wilkinson, S.*, T. Brown, B. C. McMeans. Highly Branched Isoprenoids: a novel tracer of diatom-based energy pathways in freshwater food webs. Marine and Freshwater Research. Accepted.
McMeans, B. C., M. T. Arts, and A. T. Fisk. 2015. Impacts of food web structure and feeding behavior on mercury exposure in Greenland Sharks (Somniosus microcephalus). Science of the Total Environment 509-510: 216-225
Hussey, N. E., M. A. MacNeil, B. C. McMeans, J. A. Olin, F. J. S. Dudley, G. Cliff, S. P. Wintner, S. Fennessy, and A. T. Fisk. 2014. Rescaling the trophic framework of marine food webs. Ecology Letters 17(2): 239-250
Lu, Z., A. T. Fisk, K. Kovacs, C. Lydersen, M. A. McKinney, G. T. Tomy, B. Rosenburg, B. C. McMeans, D. C. G. Muir, and C. S. Wong. 2014. Temporal and spatial trends of PCB chiral signatures in the Greenland Shark (Somniosus microcephalus) and its Arctic food web. Environmental Pollution 186: 216-225.
McMeans, B. C., M.T. Arts, C. Lydersen, K. Kovacs, H. Hop, S. Falk-Petersen and A.T. Fisk. 2013. The role of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) in Svalbard, Norway assessed via stable isotopes and fatty acids. Marine Biology 160(5):1223-1238.
MacNeil, M. A., B. C. McMeans, N. Hussey, P. Vecsei, J. Svavarsson, K. Kovacs, C. Lydersen, M. Treble, G. B. Skomal, M. Ramsey, and A. T. Fisk. 2012. Biology of Somniosus microcephalus. Journal of Fish Biology (Special edition on elasmobranchs) 80(5): 991-1018.
Marcoux, M., B. C. McMeans, A. T. Fisk, and S. H. Ferguson. 2012. Composition and temporal variation in the diet of the threatened population of belugas in Cumberland Sound. Marine Ecology Progress Series 471: 283-291.
McMeans, B. C., M. T. Arts, and A. T. Fisk. 2012. Similarity between predator and prey fatty acid profiles is tissue dependent in Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus): implications for diet reconstruction. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 429: 55-63.
McMeans, B. C., M.T. Arts, C. Lydersen, K. Kovacs, H. Hop, S. Falk-Petersen and A.T. Fisk. 2013. The role of Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) in Svalbard, Norway assessed via stable isotopes and fatty acids. Marine Biology 160(5):1223-1238.
MacNeil, M. A., B. C. McMeans, N. Hussey, P. Vecsei, J. Svavarsson, K. Kovacs, C. Lydersen, M. Treble, G. B. Skomal, M. Ramsey, and A. T. Fisk. 2012. Biology of Somniosus microcephalus. Journal of Fish Biology (Special edition on elasmobranchs) 80(5): 991-1018.
Marcoux, M., B. C. McMeans, A. T. Fisk, and S. H. Ferguson. 2012. Composition and temporal variation in the diet of the threatened population of belugas in Cumberland Sound. Marine Ecology Progress Series 471: 283-291.
McMeans, B. C., M. T. Arts, and A. T. Fisk. 2012. Similarity between predator and prey fatty acid profiles is tissue dependent in Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus): implications for diet reconstruction. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 429: 55-63.
photo: Kevin Coghill
Hussey, N., J. A. Olin, M. Kinney, B. C. McMeans, and A. T. Fisk. 2012. Lipid extraction effects on stable isotope values (d13C and d 15N) of elasmobranch muscle tissue. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 434: 7-15.
Hussey, N., M. A. MacNeil, J. Olin, B. C. McMeans, M. Kinney, D. Chapman, A. T. Fisk. 2012. Stable isotopes and elasmobranchs: tissue types, methods, applications and assumptions. Journal of Fish Biology (Special edition on elasmobranchs) 80(5): 1449-1484.
McMeans, B. C., J. Svavarsson, S. T. Dennard, and A. T. Fisk. 2010. Diet and resource use among Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) and teleosts sampled in Icelandic waters, using δ13C, δ15N and total mercury. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 67(9): 1428-1438.
McMeans, B. C., J. A. Olin, and G. W. Benz. 2009. Stable isotope comparisons between embryos and mothers of a placentatrophic shark species. Journal of Fish Biology 75: 2464-247
Dennard, S. T., B. C. McMeans, and A. T. Fisk. 2009. Preliminary assessment of Greenland halibut diet in Cumberland Sound using stable isotopes. Polar Biology 32(6): 941-945.
McMeans, B. C., K. Borgå, W. Bechtol, D. Higginbotham, and A. T. Fisk. 2007. Essential and non-essential element concentrations in two sleeper shark species collected in arctic waters. Environmental Pollution 148(1): 281-290.
photo: Kevin Coghill