Transfer efficiency of carbon, nutrients, and polyunsaturated fatty acids in planktonic food webs under different environmental conditions

The trophic transfer efficiency (TTE) is an important indicator of ecosystem functioning. However, TTE data from freshwater food webs are ambiguous due to differences in time scales and methods. We investigated the transfer of essential substances (carbon, nutrients, and polyunsaturated fatty acids) through plankton communities in 30 Polish lakes with different trophic status in the middle of summer. The results of our study revealed that different essential substances were transferred from phytoplankton to zooplankton with varying efficiencies. The average TTE of C, N, P, and the sum of ω-3 PUFA were 6.55%, 9.82%, 15.82%, and 20.90%, respectively. Our results also show a large mismatch between the elemental and biochemical compositions of zooplankton and their food during the peak of the summer stagnation, which may further promote the accumulation of essential substances. There were also large differences in TTEs between trophic conditions, with the highest efficiencies in oligotrophic lakes and the lowest in dystrophic and eutrophic lakes. Therefore, our study indicates that disturbances like eutrophication and dystrophication similarly decrease the TTE of essential substances between phytoplankton and zooplankton in freshwater food webs.