@misc{HixsonSharmaKainzetal.2015,
  author    = {Hixson, Stefanie M. and Sharma, Bhanu and Kainz, Martin J. and Wacker, Alexander and Arts, Michael T.},
  title     = {Production, distribution, and abundance of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids: a fundamental dichotomy between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems},
  series = {Environmental reviews = Dossiers environnement},
  volume    = {23},
  journal   = {Environmental reviews = Dossiers environnement},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {NRC Research Press},
  address   = {Ottawa},
  issn      = {1208-6053},
  doi       = {10.1139/er-2015-0029},
  pages     = {414 -- 424},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) are critical for the health of aquatic and terrestrial organisms; therefore, understanding the production, distribution, and abundance of these compounds is imperative. Although the dynamics of LC-PUFA production and distribution in aquatic environments has been well documented, a systematic and comprehensive comparison to LC-PUFA in terrestrial environments has not been rigorously investigated. Here we use a data synthesis approach to compare and contrast fatty acid profiles of 369 aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Habitat and trophic level were interacting factors that determined the proportion of individual omega-3 (n-3) or omega-6 (n-6) PUFA in aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Higher total n-3 content compared with n-6 PUFA and a strong prevalence of the n-3 PUFA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) characterized aquatic versus terrestrial organisms. Conversely, terrestrial organisms had higher linoleic acid (LNA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) contents than aquatic organisms; however, the ratio of ALA: LNA was higher in aquatic organisms. The EPA + DHA content was higher in aquatic animals than terrestrial organisms, and increased from algae to invertebrates to vertebrates in the aquatic environment. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed that fatty acid composition was highly dependent on the interaction between habitat and trophic level. We conclude that freshwater ecosystems provide an essential service through the production of n-3 LC-PUFA that are required to maintain the health of terrestrial organisms including humans.},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{ColomboWackerParrishetal.2017,
  author    = {Colombo, Stefanie M. and Wacker, Alexander and Parrish, Christopher C. and Kainz, Martin J. and Arts, Michael T.},
  title     = {A fundamental dichotomy in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid abundance between and within marine and terrestrial ecosystems},
  series = {Environmental reviews = Dossiers environnement},
  volume    = {25},
  journal   = {Environmental reviews = Dossiers environnement},
  publisher = {NRC Research Press},
  address   = {Ottawa},
  issn      = {1208-6053},
  doi       = {10.1139/er-2016-0062},
  pages     = {163 -- 174},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially long-chain (i.e., >= 20 carbons) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), are fundamental to the health and survival of marine and terrestrial organisms. Therefore, it is imperative that we gain a better understanding of their origin, abundance, and transfer between and within these ecosystems. We evaluated the natural variation in PUFA distribution and abundance that exists between and within these ecosystems by amassing and analyzing, using multivariate and analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods, >3000 fatty acid (FA) profiles from marine and terrestrial organisms. There was a clear dichotomy in LC-PUFA abundance between organisms in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, mainly driven by the C-18 PUFA in terrestrial organisms and omega-3 (n-3) LC-PUFA in marine organisms. The PUFA content of an organism depended on both its biome (marine vs terrestrial) and taxonomic group. Within the marine biome, the PUFA content varied among taxonomic groups. PUFA content of marine organisms was dependent on both geographic zone (i.e., latitude, and thus broadly related to temperature) and trophic level (a function of diet). The contents of n-3 LC-PUFA were higher in polar and temperate marine organisms than those from the tropics. Therefore, we conclude that, on a per capita basis, high latitude marine organisms provide a disproportionately large global share of these essential nutrients to consumers, including terrestrial predators. Our analysis also hints at how climate change, and other anthropogenic stressors, might act to negatively impact the global distribution and abundance of n-3 LC-PUFA within marine ecosystems and on the terrestrial consumers that depend on these subsidies.},
  language  = {en}
}