Hierarchical Interaction between Food Diversity and Competition in Brackish Fish Species in South Korea

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is a clear and elegant paper, building on the authors' earlier detailed work, but with little self-citation.  The research design is very appropriate.

Some minor areas need attention:

The list of keywords could be improved, by adding 'Estuarine ecology'. I feel the term 'food source' is too general to be useful. 

Line 27: typo 'trophic'

Line 95: Table 1. Note hierarchical position has slipped somewhat - order name should be at first line. Check spelling of 'Tetraodontidae'

Line 134: typo 'compositions'

Line 149: Title of Table 2 'No. of fish' could be made clearer.

Line 197: amend abbreviation for Lateolabrax: should be Lj.

Line 211: add 'Decapoda' before abbreviation Dec.

Author Response

The responses to the review opinions wrote in the attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This study provides a meta-analysis of the food sources of fish species in the brackish ecosystems of South Korea and offers valuable insights into estuarine ecosystems. The description of the methods and results is generally clear and meets the academic standards. However, there are a few points that could be further improved:

(1)  Please provide more specific information about the source of the literature data. For table 1, please add information on original method of obtaining feeding data (microscopic microscopy or eDNA), time and location.

(2)  Line 90-91: Is there any cases that can identify food sources to taxonomic groups. I suggest give more reasons for excluding isotope data.

(3) What is Hub score? How is it calculated?

(4) For table 2, why ratio sums > 100%?

(5) In the discussion, please further explore the practical applications of the study findings for the management and conservation of brackish ecosystems in South Korea. Additionally, discuss the implications of the classification of food sources into freshwater and marine sources.

(6) Line 311-313: Why higher competition index indicates they are zooplanktivorous fish? And why zooplanktivorous fish had highest inter-species competition.

Author Response

The responses to the review opinions wrote in the attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

attached

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

language revison

Author Response

The responses to the review opinions wrote in the attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Now article can be accepted for publication.