title: Applications of C and N stable isotopes to ecological and environmental studies in seagrass ecosystems.
abstract: Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen are increasingly used in marine ecosystems, for ecological and environmental studies. Here, we examine some applications of stable isotopes as ecological integrators or tracers in seagrass ecosystem studies. We focus on both the use of natural isotope abundance as food web integrators or environmental tracers and on the use of stable isotopes as experimental tools. As ecosystem integrators, stable isotopes have helped to elucidate the general structure of trophic webs in temperate, Mediterranean and tropical seagrass ecosystems. As environmental tracers, stable isotopes have proven their utility in sewage impact measuring and mapping. However, to make such environmental studies more comprehensible, future works on understanding of basic reasons for variations of N and C stable isotopes in seagrasses should be encouraged. At least, as experimental tracers, stable isotopes allow the study of many aspects of N and C cycles at the scale of a plant or at the scale of the seagrass ecosystem.
authors.affiliation: Centre MARE, Laboratoire d'Océanologie, Institut de Chimie, B6, Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium. g.lepoint@ulg.ac.be
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lepoint
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dauby
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gobert
mesh_terms: D035961:Alismatales / Q000378:metabolism*; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000378:metabolism*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D020387:Food Chain; D008386:Marine Biology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes