Study reveals lakes' food chain length impacts ecosystem stability.
Food web structure in lakes affects many ecological patterns. This study used stable isotopes to measure food chain length in 14 lakes. The number of trophic levels in a lake is linked to the length of its food chain. Fish species richness and lake size influence food chain length. Surprisingly, the largest lakes had shorter food chains than expected. Lake productivity doesn't strongly predict food chain length, but productive space does. This research improves our understanding of food webs and energy flow in lakes.