Variation in food web reliance on green and brown energy pathways across ecosystem gradients

James W. Sturges; W. Ryan James; Ryan J. Rezek; Rolando O. Santos; Mack White; Gina A. Badlowski; Shakira Trabelsi; Jordan Massie; Justin S. Lesser; Joel C. Trexler; James Nelson; Jennifer S. Rehage

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0336521

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Variation in food web reliance on green and brown energy pathways across ecosystem gradients

James W. Sturges ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Project administration, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

^* jstur015@fiu.edu

Affiliation Department of Earth and Environment, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1321-0466

⨯
W. Ryan James ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Department of Earth and Environment, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America, Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4829-7742

⨯
Ryan J. Rezek ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Marine Science, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, South Carolina, United States of America
⨯
Rolando O. Santos ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America
⨯
Mack White ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Earth and Environment, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America
⨯
Gina A. Badlowski ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America
⨯
Shakira Trabelsi ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Earth and Environment, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America
⨯
Jordan Massie ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Earth and Environment, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America
⨯
Justin S. Lesser ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Data curation, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America
⨯
Joel C. Trexler ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Project administration, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Florida, United States of America
⨯
James Nelson ,

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
⨯
Jennifer S. Rehage

Contributed equally to this work with: James W. Sturges, W. Ryan James, Ryan J. Rezek, Rolando O. Santos, Mack White, Gina A. Badlowski, Shakira Trabelsi, Jordan Massie, Justin S. Lesser, Joel C. Trexler, James Nelson, Jennifer S. Rehage

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Department of Earth and Environment, Institute of Environment, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, United States of America
⨯

Variation in food web reliance on green and brown energy pathways across ecosystem gradients

James W. Sturges,
W. Ryan James,
Ryan J. Rezek,
Rolando O. Santos,
Mack White,
Gina A. Badlowski,
Shakira Trabelsi,
Jordan Massie,
Justin S. Lesser,
Joel C. Trexler

Published: February 4, 2026
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0336521

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