Effects of climate on deer bone delta 15N and delta 13C: Lack of precipitation effects on delta 15N for animals consuming low amounts of C4 plants

Details Effects of climate on deer bone delta 15N and delta 13C: Lack of precipitation effects on delta 15N for animals consuming low amounts of C4 plants Effects of climate on deer bone delta 15N and delta 13C: Lack of precipitation effects on delta 15N for animals consuming low amounts of C4 plants

Nov 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996gecoa..60.4161c&link_type=abstract

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. 60, Issue 21, pp.4161-4166

Physics

3

Scientific paper

We have examined the relationship of bone collagen 15 N and 13 C to climatic variables, humidity, temperature, and amount of precipitation using fifty-nine specimens of North American white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) from forty-six different locations. In previous studies of African mammals there was a significant correlation between bone collagen 15 N and local amount of precipitation. Results presented here similarly show an increase in 15 N with decreasing amount of precipitation but only for 25% of the animals, namely those consuming more than 10% C 4 plants. These animals also exhibited a significant correlation between 13 C and temperature which mirrors previous observations for grasses suggesting that these deer consume grasses during times of population and nutrient stress. In contrast, even in dry areas containing high proportions of C 4 grasses, the majority of the deer had consumed low amounts of C 4 plants and these deer did not have 15 N which correlate with amount of precipitation. Only when deer deviated from their normal feeding pattern by consuming C 4 plants or grasses did their 15 N correlate with amount of rainfall. For these animals, consumption of C 4 plants or grasses may signal conditions of water and nutrient stress. An increase in 15 N of bone collagen may result from combined effects from excretion of concentrated urine (to conserve water) and increased internal recycling of nitrogen (to conserve nitrogen).

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