Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Elucidating the food web structure of the subterranean invertebrate communities of arid zone Western Australia

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Sacco, Mattia
    Blyth, alison
    Humphreys, William
    Laini, Alex
    Hua, Quan
    Grice, Kliti
    Date
    2018
    Type
    Conference Paper
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Sacco, M. and Blyth, A. and Humphreys, W. and Laini, A. and Hua, Q. and Grice, K. 2018. Elucidating the food web structure of the subterranean invertebrate communities of arid zone Western Australia. In: 24th International Conference on Subterranean Biology, 20-24 Aug 2018, Aveiro, Portugal.
    Faculty
    Faculty of Science and Engineering
    School
    School of Molecular and Life Sciences (MLS)
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80943
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Groundwater forms over 95% of liquid freshwater, and is the primary water source for many arid and semi-arid regions. However, the ecology of aquifers is poorly understood, despite groundwater fauna being proposed as regulating water quality via consumption of organics and microbes. A key obstacle is the inaccessibility of these ecosystems and their microinvertebrate fauna, limiting feasibility of conventional ecological techniques. To address this problem, we apply a suite of chemical tools to reconstruct key ecosystem functions – stable isotopic analysis of δ13C and δ15N in single amino acids, and radiocarbon analysis of faunal groups. Compound specific stable isotope analysis of δ13C and δ15N separates the source isotopic signal from the signal generated by trophic enrichment. δ15N analysis allows calculation of relative trophic position, while our δ13C data shows clear distinctions between consumers of plant material, and generalists grazing on a range of organics. By combining stable isotope techniques with radiocarbon analysis, which characterises proportions of fresh, recycled, and geological carbon, we can: i) Assign trophic position to different invertebrate species, ii) Identify the dominant carbon sources at the base of the subterranean food web, iii) Assess changes in these characteristics with fluctuations in physiochemical parameters. This data will allow much improved characterisation of subterranean ecosystem function, and when combined with taxonomic and DNA research, will provide a comprehensive toolkit to assess system resilience under natural and anthropogenic pressures.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Isotope fractionation studies of molybdenum
      Wieser, M.; De Laeter, John; Varner, M. (2007)
      Mass spectrometric studies of the isotopic composition of molybdenum have become an active area of research in stable isotope geochemistry, biogeochemistry and cosmochemistry. The redox chemistry of Mo, together with its ...
    • Evaluating the source, age, thermal history and palaeoenvironments of deposition of Australian and Western Canadian petroleum systems: compound specific stable isotopes coupled with inorganic trace elements
      Maslen, Ercin (2010)
      Petroleum geochemistry is an important scientific discipline used in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. Petroleum geochemistry involves the applications of organic geochemistry to the study of origin, formation, ...
    • Factors controlling the abundance and carbon isotopic composition of land-plant derived compounds in crude oils.
      Murray, Andrew P. (1998)
      This thesis describes a study in petroleum geochemistry and specifically of the application of Land-plant derived hydrocarbons to elucidating source matter type, depositional environment and thermal maturity of crude oils. ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.