Nutrient Transfer Dynamics of Anadromous Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) in Freshwater Spawning and Nursery Habitats

Abstract River herring (alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus and blueback herring, A . aestivalis ) can act as vectors of nutrient transfer between marine and freshwater environments. Adult river herring can transfer marine-derived nutrients to freshwater ecosystems during spawning migrations through excretions and direct consumption of adults, eggs, and early phase juveniles by freshwater scavengers and predators. Adults and juveniles can transfer nutrients derived during freshwater residency back to the marine environment following emigration and the same excretion and consumption mechanisms. Potential nutrient transfers were assessed by applying carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotope analyses to a collection of juvenile and adult alewives, baseline food web components, and freshwater fish predators in three ponds in southeastern Massachusetts USA. Out-migrating adult alewife tissue stable isotope values were lower for both carbon and sulfur but higher for nitrogen than in-migrating conspecifics reflecting incorporation of freshwater-derived nutrients. Most juvenile alewife stable isotope values were at steady state with freshwater food webs at the time of sampling reflecting additional export of freshwater-derived nutrients with their eventual emigration to the marine environment. Stable isotope-based detection of marine-derived nutrients in freshwater predators was limited to catadromous elvers ( Anguilla rostrata ), anadromous white perch ( Morone americana ), and semi-anadromous yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ) with no marine-derived nutrients detected in resident freshwater fish predators. However, juvenile alewives were observed in stomachs of smallmouth ( Micropterus dolomieu ) and largemouth bass ( M . nigricans ). Results further inform current alewife ecosystem-level interactions with the marine and freshwater environments that they occupy during different life history phases for the many coastal watersheds in New England.