Complex Tidal Marsh Dynamics Structure Fish Foraging Patterns In The San Francisco Estuary

Details

• Journal Title:
  Estuaries and Coasts
• Personal Author:
  Colombano, Denise D. ; Handley, Thomas B. ; O’Rear, Teejay A. ; Durand, John R. ; Moyle, Peter B.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; Sea Grant
• Sea Grant Program:
  CASG/CUIMR (California Sea Grant)
• Description:
  Mechanisms driving the consumption and transport of tidal marsh nutrients and energy by fishes are of key interest in the San
  
  Francisco Estuary, CA, USA. By combining multiple data sources (gill-net catches, gut contents, channel morphology, tides), we
  
  modeled spatial and temporal patterns of fish abundance and gut fullness across a tidal marsh elevation gradient. Channel depth,
  
  microhabitat, and tide were important predictors of fish abundance and gut fullness. Species, feeding guild, and season were also
  
  important to fish abundance but not to gut fullness, suggesting that abundance was more related to physical constraints of shallow
  
  water than to prey availability. Multiple feeding guilds overlapped in space and time at interaction hotspots in subtidal channel
  
  habitat near the marsh entrance. In contrast, fish use of shallow intertidal marsh channels was more variable and indicated
  
  tradeoffs between foraging and predation. Gut content analysis revealed moderate-to-high gut fullness for all feeding guilds
  
  and models predicted high gut fullness in subtidal reaches during tidal flooding, after which fish fed intensively throughout the
  
  marsh. While mysids, amphipods, and detritus were common prey among feeding guilds, variation in prey consumption was
  
  apparent. Overall, complex tidal marsh hydrogeomorphology driving land-water exchange and residence time may diversify and
  
  enhance benthic and pelagic food web pathways to fishes and invertebrates. Furthermore, these findings substantiate the notion
  
  that dynamic tidal marshes in this system can support robust secondary production, foraging by multiple feeding guilds, and
  
  trophic transfer by fishes to the estuarine mosaic.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Estuaries Fishes Food Salt Marsh Ecology Salt Marsh Ecology
• Source:
  Estuaries and Coasts, 44:1604–1618
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-00896-4
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)
• Rights Information:
  CC BY
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:ca9a5b460ed43fb5f53ce6ec3b469a2a40ae93a1a451f72915b1bb999f1ac0f0
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/43100/noaa_43100_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.67 MB ]