Data from: Ecological forensics: using single point stable isotope values to infer seasonal schedules of animals after two diet switches ...

• Main Authors: Jouta, Jeltje, Dietz, Maurine W., Reneerkens, Jeroen, Piersma, Theunis, Rakhimberdiev, Eldar, Hallgrímsson, Gunnar T., Pen, Ido
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2017
• Subjects: throphic change; dietary changes; Calidris alba; timing; seasonal pattern; staging duration; shorebirds; Arctic; North Atlantic; Tundra; Sanderling
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.t72b0; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.t72b0

Animals adjust to seasonal challenges in physical, behavioural and spatial ways. Such adjustments are commonly associated with diet changes that often can be characterised isotopically. We introduce the ‘double diet switch model’, with which the occurrence and timing of two subsequent diet switches of an individual animal can be traced with a single sample assayed for stable isotopes. We demonstrate the model for Sanderling, Calidris alba, a small shorebird that migrates from the Nearctic tundra breeding grounds to the intertidal flats of the Wadden Sea; during this migration some birds may stage in the North Atlantic areas. The ‘double diet switch model’ successfully predicted the occurrence and timing of two diet switches in 59 Sanderlings captured in the Wadden Sea in July–September. Excluding birds that likely had over-summered at North Atlantic staging areas, the model predicted that Sanderlings departed from the Arctic on 13 July (range: 9–17 July), had a staging duration of 18·6 days in the North ... : d13C data of (the diet of) Sanderlings under three dietsd13C data of Sanderlings from the Arctic breeding area, d13C data of prey from the staging area and d13C values of prey from the Wadden Sea.Jouta_J.-Using_isotopes_to_infer_seasonal_schedules-MethEcolEvol--data_three_stages.odsd13C data of sanderlings caught in the Wadden Sead13C values of plasma and red blood cells of Sanderlings caught in the Wadden Sea.Jouta_J.-Using_isotopes_to_infer_seasonal_schedules-MethEcolEvol--raw_data_sanderings_WaddenSea.ods ...