Stoichiometric multitrophic networks reveal significance of land-sea interaction to ecosystem function in a subtropical nutrient-poor bight, South Africa.

Nearshore marine ecosystems can benefit from their interaction with adjacent ecosystems, especially if they alleviate nutrient limitations in nutrient poor areas. This was the case in our oligo- to mesotrophic study area, the KwaZulu-Natal Bight on the South African subtropical east coast, which is bordered by the Agulhas current. We built stoichiometric, multitrophic ecosystem networks depicting biomass and material flows of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in three subsystems of the bight.