Benthic algal–detrital-chironomid pathway sustains high secondary production in a Great Salt Lake wetland

Benthic algal–detrital-chironomid pathway sustains high secondary production in a Great Salt Lake wetland | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Benthic algal–detrital-chironomid pathway sustains high secondary production in a Great Salt Lake wetland David Richards, Theron Miller This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9095371/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Sheet-flow wetlands of Farmington Bay in Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA) support some of the largest concentrations of migratory waterbirds in North America, yet the trophic mechanisms sustaining this exceptional productivity remain poorly understood. Here we present the first ecosystem-scale Ecopath model of a Great Salt Lake sheet-flow wetland and use ecosystem network analysis to reveal how benthic production and detrital recycling structure energy flow in this highly productive wetland ecosystem. Our model included 33 functional groups spanning primary producers, microbial compartments, benthic invertebrates, and avian consumers. Whole-system metrics indicated extremely high ecosystem productivity (total system throughput = 7247 t km⁻² yr⁻¹; net primary production > 5400 t km⁻² yr⁻¹). Energy flow was strongly dominated by detrital pathways, with approximately 51% of total system throughput originating from detritus and trophic transfer efficiency from detrital pathways (6.3%) exceeding that from primary producers (1.9%). Ecosystem Network Analysis revealed extensive internal recycling (Finn’s cycling index = 40%) and long energy pathway lengths (Finn’s mean path length = 13.2), indicating prolonged retention and repeated reprocessing of organic matter. Network organization metrics indicated low ascendency and high system overhead (A/C ≈ 0.26; O/C ≈ 0.74), suggesting a structurally redundant and resilient ecosystem but one that may be vulnerable to disturbance due to bottlenecks in benthic invertebrate taxa. Together, these results indicate that Farmington Bay wetlands operate through a benthic algal–chironomid detrital pathway that efficiently converts basal production into invertebrate prey supporting large migratory waterbird populations. More broadly, this study demonstrates how detrital recycling and benthic production can bolster high secondary production in shallow wetland ecosystems, providing a quantitative baseline for evaluating environmental change and guiding ecosystem-based management of Great Salt Lake wetlands. Ecopath ecosystem network analysis detrital food webs benthic production trophic transfer efficiency imperiled wetland ecosystems Great Salt Lake Full Text Additional Declarations Tables 1 and 2 are available in the Supplementary Files section. Supplementary Files Table1.docx Table2.docx ConceptualGraphicalAbstract.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 01 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 16 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 13 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 12 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9095371","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":616175669,"identity":"634a0462-6a82-487a-967c-43dce115d8af","order_by":0,"name":"David 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Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Ecopath, ecosystem network analysis, detrital food webs, benthic production, trophic transfer efficiency, imperiled wetland ecosystems, Great Salt Lake","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9095371/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9095371/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSheet-flow wetlands of Farmington Bay in Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA) support some of the largest concentrations of migratory waterbirds in North America, yet the trophic mechanisms sustaining this exceptional productivity remain poorly understood. Here we present the first ecosystem-scale Ecopath model of a Great Salt Lake sheet-flow wetland and use ecosystem network analysis to reveal how benthic production and detrital recycling structure energy flow in this highly productive wetland ecosystem. Our model included 33 functional groups spanning primary producers, microbial compartments, benthic invertebrates, and avian consumers. Whole-system metrics indicated extremely high ecosystem productivity (total system throughput\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7247 t km⁻\u0026sup2; yr⁻\u0026sup1;; net primary production\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;5400 t km⁻\u0026sup2; yr⁻\u0026sup1;). Energy flow was strongly dominated by detrital pathways, with approximately 51% of total system throughput originating from detritus and trophic transfer efficiency from detrital pathways (6.3%) exceeding that from primary producers (1.9%). Ecosystem Network Analysis revealed extensive internal recycling (Finn\u0026rsquo;s cycling index\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;40%) and long energy pathway lengths (Finn\u0026rsquo;s mean path length\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;13.2), indicating prolonged retention and repeated reprocessing of organic matter. Network organization metrics indicated low ascendency and high system overhead (A/C\u0026thinsp;\u0026asymp;\u0026thinsp;0.26; O/C\u0026thinsp;\u0026asymp;\u0026thinsp;0.74), suggesting a structurally redundant and resilient ecosystem but one that may be vulnerable to disturbance due to bottlenecks in benthic invertebrate taxa. Together, these results indicate that Farmington Bay wetlands operate through a benthic algal\u0026ndash;chironomid detrital pathway that efficiently converts basal production into invertebrate prey supporting large migratory waterbird populations. More broadly, this study demonstrates how detrital recycling and benthic production can bolster high secondary production in shallow wetland ecosystems, providing a quantitative baseline for evaluating environmental change and guiding ecosystem-based management of Great Salt Lake wetlands.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Benthic algal–detrital-chironomid pathway sustains high secondary production in a Great Salt Lake wetland","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-07 10:14:26","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9095371/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-01T20:59:53+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Wetlands","date":"2026-03-16T20:49:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-03-13T04:26:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Wetlands","date":"2026-03-12T10:49:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"wetlands","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"wela","sideBox":"Learn more about [Wetlands](https://www.springer.com/journal/13157)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/wela/default.aspx","title":"Wetlands","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"69148bed-ec15-43cb-83e5-2f60ef7e0b23","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 7th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-07T10:14:26+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-07 10:14:26","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9095371","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9095371","identity":"rs-9095371","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}