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dc.contributor.authorLecomte, Nicolas
dc.contributor.authorAhlstrøm, Øystein Jan
dc.contributor.authorEhrich, Dorothee
dc.contributor.authorFuglei, Eva
dc.contributor.authorIms, Rolf Anker
dc.contributor.authorYoccoz, Nigel
dc.date.accessioned2012-03-21T13:33:40Z
dc.date.available2012-03-21T13:33:40Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractTissue-specific stable isotope signatures can provide insights into the trophic ecology of consumers and their roles in food webs. Two parameters are central for making valid inferences based on stable isotopes, isotopic discrimination (difference in isotopic ratio between consumer and its diet) and turnover time (renewal process of molecules in a given tissue usually measured when half of the tissue composition has changed). We investigated simultaneously the effects of age, sex, and diet types on the variation of discrimination and half-life in nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C, respectively) in five tissues (blood cells, plasma, muscle, liver, nail, and hair) of a top predator, the arctic fox Vulpes lagopus. We fed 40 farmed foxes (equal numbers of adults and yearlings of both sexes) with diet capturing the range of resources used by their wild counterparts. We found that, for a single species, six tissues, and three diet types, the range of discrimination values can be almost as large as what is known at the scale of the whole mammalian or avian class. Discrimination varied depending on sex, age, tissue, and diet types, ranging from 0.3‰ to 5.3‰ (mean = 2.6‰) for δ15N and from 0.2‰ to 2.9‰ (mean = 0.9‰) for δ13C. We also found an impact of population structure on δ15N half-life in blood cells. Varying across individuals, δ15N half-life in plasma (6 to 10 days) was also shorter than for δ13C (14 to 22 days), though δ15N and δ13C half-lives are usually considered as equal. Overall, our multi-factorial experiment revealed that at least six levels of isotopic variations could co-occur in the same population. Our experimental analysis provides a framework for quantifying multiple sources of variation in isotopic discrimination and half-life that needs to be taken into account when designing and analysing ecological field studies.en
dc.identifier.citationPLoS ONE (2011) 6(6): e21357en
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 837205
dc.identifier.doidoi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0021357
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/4032
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:no-uit_munin_3753
dc.language.isoengen
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science (PLoS)en
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccess
dc.subjectVDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488en
dc.subjectVDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488en
dc.titleIntrapopulation variability shaping isotope discrimination and turnover : experimental evidence in Arctic Foxesen
dc.typeJournal articleen
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen
dc.typePeer revieweden


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