title: Molecular trophic markers in marine food webs and their potential use for coral ecology.
abstract: Notable advances in ecological genomics have been driven by high-throughput sequencing technology and taxonomically broad sequence repositories that allow us to accurately assess species interactions with great taxonomic resolution. The use of DNA as a marker for ingested food is particularly relevant to address predator-prey interactions and disentangle complex marine food webs. DNA-based methods benefit from reductionist molecular approaches to address ecosystem scale processes, such as community structure and energy flow across trophic levels, among others. Here we review how molecular trophic markers have been used to better understand trophic interactions in the marine environment and their advantages and limitations. We focus on animal groups where research has been focused, such as marine mammals, seabirds, fishes, pelagic invertebrates and benthic invertebrates, and use case studies to illustrate how DNA-based methods unraveled food-web interactions. The potential of molecular trophic markers for disentangling the complex trophic ecology of corals is also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Fish Ecology Evolution, Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Center for Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry; Seestrasse 79, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland. Electronic address: miguelcleal@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Miguel Costa
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Leal
authors.affiliation: Centre Scientifique du Monaco, Ecophysiology team, 8 Quai Antoine ler, MC-98000 Monaco, Monaco. Electronic address: ferrier@centrescientifique.mc.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferrier-Pagès
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D004463:Ecology / Q000379:methods*; D020387:Food Chain; D008386:Marine Biology / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Barcoding; Corals; Food webs; PCR; Trophic ecology