Variable diet plasticity in Eurasian perch (iPerca fluviatilis/i): Current versus seasonal food uptake

0583720 - BC 2024 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Vejříková, Ivana - Vejřík, Lukáš - Čech, Martin - Blabolil, Petr - Peterka, Jiří
Variable diet plasticity in Eurasian perch (iPerca fluviatilis/i): Current versus seasonal food uptake.
Ecology of Freshwater Fish. Roč. 32, č. 4 (2023), s. 795-803. ISSN 0906-6691. E-ISSN 1600-0633
R&D Projects: GA MZe(CZ) QK1920011
Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) StrategieAV21/20; AV ČR(CZ) StrategieAV21/21
Program: StrategieAV; StrategieAV
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : dependent foraging efficiency * trophic position * population-dynamics * cannibalism * total niche width
OECD category: Marine biology, freshwater biology, limnology
Impact factor: 1.8, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1111/eff.12746

Diet plasticity is often studied in Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis), a species commonly described as having generalist populations composed of specialised individuals. Perch diet was examined using gut content analysis (GCA) and stable isotope analysis (SIA), and individual specialisation was calculated in two study lakes within 2years. Mostly only one diet category was present in the perch stomach, with more variation in the diet in the Most lake compared to the Milada lake between 2013 and 2014. The calculated degree of individual specialisation indicated higher specialisation in the Most lake. Interestingly, despite the different or almost uniform diet composition between the years, the total niche width (based on SIA) of the population remained similar in both lakes. This suggests that the overall variation in the sources utilised by the entire population remained consistent between the years. GCA mostly indicated zooplankton as the prevailing food source, whereas SIA indicated significant utilisation of YOY fish earlier that year, an information that was completely missed by the GCA of fish caught in September. The differences between GCA and SIA results could be attributed to the different time intervals reflected by the methods, but possibly to the conversion of the diet into the body tissues that is reflected by SIA and may depend on the diet's nutritional values rather than the proportion of different prey consumed.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0351717