Other
Scientific paper
Apr 1984
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1984gecoa..48..625s&link_type=abstract
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol. 48, Issue 4, pp.625-639
Other
17
Scientific paper
The stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios of bone collagen prepared from more than 100 animals representing 66 species of birds, fish, and mammals are presented. The 15 N values of bone collagen from animals that fed exclusively in the marine environment are, on average, 9%. more positive than those from animals that fed exclusively in the terrestrial environment; ranges for the two groups overlap by less than 1%. Bone collagen 15 N values also serve to separate marine fish from the small number of freshwater fish we analyzed. The bone collagen 15 N values of birds and fish that spent part of their life cycles feeding in the marine environment and part in the freshwater environment are intermediate between those of animals that fed exclusively in one or the other system. Further, animals that fed at successive trophic levels in the marine and terrestrial environment are separated, on average, by a 3%. difference in the 15 N values of their bone collagen. Specifically, carnivorous and herbivorous terrestrial animals have mean 15 N values for bone collagen of + 8.0 and + 5.3%., respectively. Among marine animals, those that fed on fish have a mean 15 N value for bone collagen of + 16.5%., whereas those that fed on invertebrates have a mean 15 N value of + 13.3%. These results support previous suggestions of a 3%. enrichment in 15 N values at each successively higher trophic level. In contrast to the results for 15 N values, the ranges of bone collagen 13 C values from marine and terrestrial feeders overlap to a great extent. Additionally, bone collagen 13 C values do not reflect the trophic levels at which the animals fed. These results indicate that bone collagen 15 N values will be useful in determining relative dependence on marine and terrestrial food sources and in investigating trophic level relationships among different animal species within an ecosystem. This approach should be applicable to animals represented by prehistoric or fossilized bone in which collagen is preserved.
Deniro Michael J.
Schoeninger Margaret J.
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