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| Stable Isotope Ecology Research Team |
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Marine ecosystems composed of various organisms are formed
through complex prey-predator interactions. Modern marine ecosystems were
produced by changes in the global environment.
Many organisms evolved ecologically with differing resource usage patterns,
ecological niches, etc. However, the relations among marine ecosystems
are very complicated. The Stable Isotope Ecology Research Team aims to
clarify the trophic level of marine organisms to understand food web structures
in marine ecosystems based on the stable isotope analysis technique, which
measures nitrogen isotope ratios within amino acids. The nitrogen isotope
ratio of amino acids indicates the trophic level of organisms with much
higher accuracy than possible with previous techniques. Combined analyses
using stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon along with ecologic, biochemical,
and molecular phylogenetic analyses will clarify the relationships among
prey-predator interactions in marine organisms and illustrate the dynamics
and evolution of marine ecosystems. |
1) Understanding structures of marine ecosystems, we estimate prey-predator interactions
(food web) with nitrogen isotope of amino acids.
2) Understanding host-symbiont interactions (narrowly-defined meaning of prey-predator
interactions)
3) Multidisciplinary research on marine ecosystems with deep-sea biology, biogeochemisty,
ecology, biochemistry, molecular ecology and biogeosciences.
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Model of marine ecosystems:
a complex food web. |
Trophic level estimation based on
nitrogen isotopes of amino acids.
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*Click picture for larger image* |
*Click picture for larger image* |
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| Stable Isotope Ecology Research Team |
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Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
2-15 Natsushima-Cho,Yokosuka Kanagawa 237-0061 |
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