DNA metabarcoding reveals trophic niche diversity of micro and mesozooplankton species: supplementary data and code

Alternative pathways of energy transfer guarantee the functionality and productivity in marine food webs that experience strong seasonality. Nevertheless, the complexity of zooplankton interactions is rarely considered in trophic studies because of the lack of detailed information about feeding interactions in nature. In this study, we used DNA metabarcoding to highlight the diversity of trophic niches in a wide range of micro- and mesozooplankton including ciliates, rotifers, cladocerans, copepods, and their prey, by sequencing 16- and 18S rRNA genes. Our study demonstrates that the zooplankton trophic niche partitioning goes beyond both phylogeny and size and reinforces the importance of diversity in resource use for stabilizing food web efficiency by allowing for several different pathways of energy transfer. We further highlight that small rarely studied zooplankton (rotifers and ciliates) fill an important role in the pathways of the Baltic Sea pelagic primary production, and the p...能量传递的替代途径，可保障存在强烈季节性变化的海洋食物网的功能运作与生产力水平。然而，由于缺乏自然界中摄食相互作用的详细数据，营养生态学研究极少考虑浮游动物相互作用的复杂性。本研究通过对16S及18S核糖体RNA（rRNA）基因进行测序，采用DNA宏条形码技术（DNA metabarcoding），揭示了涵盖纤毛虫、轮虫、枝角类、桡足类在内的多种微型与中型浮游动物及其猎物的营养生态位多样性。本研究表明，浮游动物的营养生态位分化不仅与系统发育和体型大小相关，还通过支撑多种不同的能量传递途径，进一步凸显了资源利用多样性对稳定食物网效率的重要意义。本研究进一步指出，此前极少被关注的小型浮游动物（轮虫与纤毛虫）在波罗的海浮游初级生产的能量传递途径中发挥着关键作用，且...