Plankton nutritional quality outweighs isotopic trophic position in predicting food chain length across oceanic gradients
The Eastern Indian Ocean exhibits a gradient from eutrophic nearshore to oligotrophic offshore conditions. The trophic structure of the planktonic food web in this region was investigated in spring 2022 using stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N), biomass, and piecewise structural equation models (PSEM). Regional comparisons ba...