10.5061/DRYAD.DFN2Z351D
Twining, Cornelia
0000-0002-4346-8856
University of Konstanz
Bernhardt, Joey
Yale University
Matthews, Blake
0000-0001-9089-704X
Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology
Fatty acid composition data for producers and consumers
Dryad
dataset
2021
2022-04-28T00:00:00Z
2021-10-22T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13771
356113 bytes
3
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
The nutritional diversity of resources can affect the adaptive evolution
of consumer metabolism and consumer diversification. The omega-3
long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA;
20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) have a high potential to
affect consumer fitness, through their widespread effects on reproduction,
growth, and survival. However, few studies consider the evolution of fatty
acid metabolism within an ecological context. In the paper associated with
this dataset, we document the extensive diversity in both primary producer
and consumer fatty acid distributions among major ecosystems, between
habitats, and among species within habitats. This dataset on fatty acid
composition on primary producers and consumers from marine, freshwater,
and terrestrial ecosystems is used to create Figure 2 in the paper. The
data consists of alpha linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3n-3), EPA, and DHA as
percent of total fatty acids.
We synthesized data on the fatty acid composition of primary producers and
consumers from marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. We
collected data presented as percent or fraction of total fatty acids
because this was the most commonly reported form of data and we focused on
collecting data on ALA, EPA, and DHA because these three n-3 LCPUFA were
the main compounds of interest to us. We used data from several previously
published meta-analyses (Rumpold et al. 2013; Galloway and Winder 2015;
Hixson et al. 2015; Hixson et al. 2016; Guil-Guerrero and Torija-Isasa
2016; Twining et al. 2016; Colombo et al. 2017; Ishikawa et al. 2019) as
well as numerous additional recent studies covering additional taxa, such
as birds, bats, and aquatic insects, with limited representation in
previous meta-analyses. In our database, we present meta-data on the
meta-analysis where we found the data, when applicable, and original
study. Because several meta-analyses had major overlaps in original
studies cited, we removed replicate studies from our database such that
original studies were only represented once. While matching up studies in
previous meta-analyses with original studies, we corrected any errors in
author and/or taxonomic name spellings, in year of study, and in citations
(i.e., first author only listed when a study had multiple authors). We
removed several primary producer observations from previous meta-analyses
because we either could not locate the original study or because the
original cited study was on a different taxa from that provided in the
database and we could not locate any studies from the same authors on the
taxa in the database: Floreto et al. 1993 (from Hixson et al. 2016),
Thompson et al. 2002 (from Hixson et al. 2016), Martins et al. 2007 (from
Colombo et al. 2017), James et al. 2012 (from Colombo et al. 2017), James
et al. 2013 (from Hixson et al. 2016), and Teoh et al. 2013 (from Colombo
et al. 2017). We also excluded one observation on aphid fatty acid
composition from the Colombo et al. 2017 dataset because we could not
locate the original Environment Canada study. We identified taxa to the
lowest possible taxonomic level reported in original studies and then
added additional data on Phylum, Class, Order, and Family. We also report
the tissue analyzed based on information from original studies (e.g.,
blubber for marine mammals). We then categorized observations by ecosystem
(i.e., marine, freshwater, and terrestrial) based upon information (e.g.,
reported ecosystem, habitat, or species) provided in original studies.
When available within the original study, we reported data on habitat
(e.g., pelagic or benthic), common name, and tissue sampled. We also
corrected miss-citations in previously published meta-analyses and
spelling errors in species names using the taxize package in R
(Chamberlain et al. 2014). When multiple data points rather than means per
taxa (e.g., species or lowest available taxonomic unit) per study were
included in either meta-analyses or original studies, we took the mean
values of ALA, EPA, DHA for each taxa reported. For primary producers, we
identified each observation to genus. If observations were not
identifiable to the genus or species level, they were excluded from the
dataset. We report genus-level averages, if multiple observations were
available for a single genus. For consumers, we included data on either
the whole organism, as was commonly reported for both invertebrates and
fish, or one tissue per species/lowest taxonomic unit. When data on
multiple tissues were presented, we selected either muscle tissue or
adipose tissue based upon which was available in the original study. Data
on the fatty acid composition of muscle tissue was more commonly presented
in studies on birds and terrestrial mammals whereas most studies on marine
mammals presented data on blubber. Some studies included data on consumers
sampled multiple times over the year and/or at multiple age classes. In
addition, data on both males and females were presented in some studies.
Because we were primarily interested in inter-specific differences in
fatty acid composition, we calculated means across seasons, sex, and age
classes at the genus level or the lowest taxonomic resolution possible
based upon taxonomic information provided in the original study.
References for Fatty Acid Database https://paperpile.com/shared/IGegrQ