Patterns of δ13 C and δ15 N in wolverine Gulo gulo tissues from the Brooks Range, Alaska

• Published in: Current Zoology
• Main Authors: Dalerum, Fredrik, Angerbjörn, Anders, Kunkel, Kyran, Shults, Brad S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2009
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Brooks Range; Gulo gulo; wolverine; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/czoolo/55.3.188; http://academic.oup.com/cz/article-pdf/55/3/188/29955849/czoolo0188.pdf

Abstract Knowledge of carnivore diets is essential to understand how carnivore populations respond demographically to variations in prey abundance. Analysis of stable isotopes is a useful complement to traditional methods of analyzing carnivore diets . We used data on δ13 C and δ15 N in wolverine tissues to investigate patterns of seasonal and annual diet variation in a wolverine Gulo gulo population in the western Brooks Range, Alaska, USA. The stable isotope ratios in wolverine tissues generally reflected that of terrestrial carnivores, corroborating previous diet studies on wolverines. We also found variation in δ13 C and δ15 N both between muscle samples collected over several years and between tissues with different assimilation rates, even after correcting for isotopic fractionation. This suggests both annual and seasonal diet variation. Our results indicate that data on δ13 C and δ15 N holds promise for qualitative assessments of wolverine diet changes over time. Such temporal variation may be important indicators of ecological responses to environmental perturbations, and we suggest that more refined studies of stable isotopes may be an important tool when studying temporal change in diets of wolverines and similar carnivores.