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Influence of Diet On the Distribtion of Nitrogen Isotopes in Animals
Michael J. DeNiro,Samuel Epstein +1 more
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In this article, the influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals was investigated by analyzing animals grown in the laboratory on diets of constant nitrogen isotopic composition and found that the variability of the relationship between the δ^(15)N values of animals and their diets is greater for different individuals raised on the same diet than for the same species raised on different diets.Abstract:
The influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals was investigated by analyzing animals grown in the laboratory on diets of constant nitrogen isotopic composition.
The isotopic composition of the nitrogen in an animal reflects the nitrogen isotopic composition of its diet. The δ^(15)N values of the whole bodies of animals are usually more positive than those of their diets. Different individuals of a species raised on the same diet can have significantly different δ^(15)N values. The variability of the relationship between the δ^(15)N values of animals and their diets is greater for different species raised on the same diet than for the same species raised on different diets. Different tissues of mice are also enriched in ^(15)N relative to the diet, with the difference between the δ^(15)N values of a tissue and the diet depending on both the kind of tissue and the diet involved. The δ^(15)N values of collagen and chitin, biochemical components that are often preserved in fossil animal remains, are also related to the δ^(15)N value of the diet.
The dependence of the δ^(15)N values of whole animals and their tissues and biochemical components on the δ^(15)N value of diet indicates that the isotopic composition of animal nitrogen can be used to obtain information about an animal's diet if its potential food sources had different δ^(15)N values. The nitrogen isotopic method of dietary analysis probably can be used to estimate the relative use of legumes vs non-legumes or of aquatic vs terrestrial organisms as food sources for extant and fossil animals. However, the method probably will not be applicable in those modern ecosystems in which the use of chemical fertilizers has influenced the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in food sources.
The isotopic method of dietary analysis was used to reconstruct changes in the diet of the human population that occupied the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico over a 7000 yr span. Variations in the δ^(15)C and δ^(15)N values of bone collagen suggest that C_4 and/or CAM plants (presumably mostly corn) and legumes (presumably mostly beans) were introduced into the diet much earlier than suggested by conventional archaeological analysis.read more
Citations
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Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods, and assumptions
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and discussed methods for generating an isotopic baseline and evaluate the assump- tions required to estimate the trophic position of consumers using stable isotopes in multiple ecosystem studies.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stable isotopes in ecosystem studies
Bruce J. Peterson,Brian Fry +1 more
TL;DR: The use of stable isotopes to solve biogeochemical problems in ecosystem analysis is increasing rapidly because stable isotope data can contribute both source-sink (tracer) and process information: the elements C, N, S, H, and all have more than one isotope, and isotopic compositions of natural materials can be measured with great precision with a mass spectrometer as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stepwise enrichment of 15N along food chains: Further evidence and the relation between δ15N and animal age
Masao Minagawa,Eitaro Wada +1 more
TL;DR: The isotopic composition of nitrogen was measured in marine and fresh-water animals from the East China Sea, The Bering Sea, Lake Ashinoko and Usujiri intertidal zone as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
Variation in trophic shift for stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur
TL;DR: For example, this article found that the trophic shift for C was lower for consumers acidified prior to analysis than for unacidified samples ( +0.5 + 0.13%o rather than 0.0%o, as commonly assumed).
Journal ArticleDOI
Getting to the fat of the matter: models, methods and assumptions for dealing with lipids in stable isotope analyses
David M. Post,Craig A. Layman,D. Albrey Arrington,Gaku Takimoto,John Quattrochi,Carman G Montaña +5 more
TL;DR: The results indicate that lipid extraction or normalization is most important when lipid content is variable among consumers of interest or between consumers and end members, and when differences in δ13C between end members is <10–12‰.
References
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The Use of Nitrogen Isotopic Ratio for Reconstruction of Past Changes in Surface Ocean Nutrient Utilization
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TL;DR: Sedimentary 15N/14N ratios can be used as a unique measure of past changes in surface ocean nutrient utilization which in turn is a function of changes in productivity and nutrient input from deeper waters.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stable Carbon Isotopic Evidence for Maize Agriculture in Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas
TL;DR: In this paper, bone collagen extracted from human skeletal remains from archaeological sites dating from the Archaic period through Euro-American settlement provides evidence for the introduction of maize into regional subsistence patterns.
Journal ArticleDOI
Physical drivers of mosasaur evolution
TL;DR: The taxonomic diversity and patterns of morphological disparity in mosasaurs with sea level, sea surface temperature, and stable carbon isotope curves for the Upper Cretaceous to explore factors that may have influenced their evolution.