Abstract
The Red Sea features a natural environmental gradient characterized by increasing water temperature, nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations from North to South. The aim of this study was to assess the relationships between ecohydrography, particulate organic matter (POM) and coral reef biota that are poorly understood by means of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotopes. Herbivorous, planktivorous and carnivorous fishes, zooplankton, soft corals (Alcyonidae), and bivalves (Tridacna squamosa) were a priori defined as biota guilds. Environmental samples (nutrients, chlorophyll a), oceanographic data (salinity, temperature), POM and biota were collected at eight coral reefs between 28°31′ N and 16°31′ N. Isotopic niches of guilds separated in δ13C and δ15N isotopic niche spaces and were significantly correlated with environmental factors at latitudinal scale. Dietary end member contributions were estimated using the Bayesian isotope mixing model SIAR. POM and zooplankton 15N enrichment suggested influences by urban run-off in the industrialized central region of the Red Sea. Both δ15N and their relative trophic positions (RTPs) tend to increase southwards, but urban runoff offsets the natural environmental gradient in the central region of the Red Sea toward higher δ15N and RTPs. The present study reveals that consumer δ13C and δ15N in Red Sea coral reefs are influenced primarily by the latitudinal environmental gradient and localized urban runoff. This study illustrates the importance of ecohydrography when interpreting trophic relationships from stable isotopes in Red Sea coral reefs.
•The study was conducted at large latitudinal scale along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast.•Environmental data, particulate organic matter (POM) and biota were collected at eight coral reefs.•Both relative trophic positions and δ15N increased southwards.•Variation was due to nitrogen sources and the natural gradient thereof, but urban runoff offsets the natural gradient in the central Red Sea.•Macronutrient end members of the coral reef and the pelagic account for variation within guilds.