Vitamin B-1 is an essential exogenous micronutrient for animals. Mass death and reproductive failure in top aquatic consumers caused by vitamin B-1 deficiency is an emerging conservation issue in Northern hemisphere aquatic ecosystems. We present for the first time a model that identifies conditions responsible for the constrained flow of vitamin B-1 from unicellular organisms to planktivorous fishes. The flow of vitamin B-1 through the food web is constrained under anthropogenic pressures of increased nutrient input and, driven by climatic change, increased light attenuation by dissolved substances transported to marine coastal systems. Fishing pressure on piscivorous fish, through increased abundance of planktivorous fish that overexploit mesozooplankton, may further constrain vitamin B-1 flow from producers to consumers. We also found that key ecological contributors to the constrained flow of vitamin B-1 are a low mesozooplankton biomass, picoalgae prevailing among primary producers and low fluctuations of population numbers of planktonic organisms.
1.Jagiellonian Univ, Inst Environm Sci, Ul Gronostajowa 7, PL-30387 Krakow, Poland 2.Linnaeus Univ, Ctr Ecol & Evolut Microbial Model Syst EEMiS, S-39182 Kalmar, Sweden 3.BIORAS, Hejreskovvej 18B, Copenhagen, Denmark 4.Umea Univ, Dept Ecol & Environm Sci, SE-90187 Umea, Sweden 5.Umea Marine Sci Ctr, SE-90571 Hornefors, Sweden 6.Swedish Univ Agr Sci, Inst Marine Res, Dept Aquat Resources, Turistgatan 5, S-45330 Lysekil, Sweden 7.Univ Gothenburg, SIME, Box 260, SE-40530 Gothenburg, Sweden
Recommended Citation:
Ejsmond, M. J.,Blackburn, N.,Fridolfsson, E.,et al. Modeling vitamin B-1 transfer to consumers in the aquatic food web[J]. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS,2019-01-01,9