Validating the Incorporation of 13C and 15N in a Shorebird That Consumes an Isotopically Distinct Chemosymbiotic Bivalve.
The wealth of field studies using stable isotopes to make inferences about animal diets require controlled validation experiments to make proper interpretations. Despite several pleas in the literature for such experiments, validation studies are still lagging behind, notably in consumers dwelling i...
Published in: | PLOS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140221 https://doaj.org/article/b1a21c402fd0440d820c8f7b912b7d07 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b1a21c402fd0440d820c8f7b912b7d07 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b1a21c402fd0440d820c8f7b912b7d07 2023-05-15T15:48:26+02:00 Validating the Incorporation of 13C and 15N in a Shorebird That Consumes an Isotopically Distinct Chemosymbiotic Bivalve. Jan A van Gils Mohamed Vall Ahmedou Salem 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140221 https://doaj.org/article/b1a21c402fd0440d820c8f7b912b7d07 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4601768?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140221 https://doaj.org/article/b1a21c402fd0440d820c8f7b912b7d07 PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 10, p e0140221 (2015) Medicine R Science Q article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140221 2022-12-31T08:17:11Z The wealth of field studies using stable isotopes to make inferences about animal diets require controlled validation experiments to make proper interpretations. Despite several pleas in the literature for such experiments, validation studies are still lagging behind, notably in consumers dwelling in chemosynthesis-based ecosystems. In this paper we present such a validation experiment for the incorporation of 13C and 15N in the blood plasma of a medium-sized shorebird, the red knot (Calidris canutus canutus), consuming a chemosymbiotic lucinid bivalve (Loripes lucinalis). Because this bivalve forms a symbiosis with chemoautotrophic sulphide-oxidizing bacteria living inside its gill, the bivalve is isotopically distinct from 'normal' bivalves whose food has a photosynthetic basis. Here we experimentally tested the hypothesis that isotope discrimination and incorporation dynamics are different when consuming such chemosynthesis-based prey. The experiment showed that neither the isotopic discrimination factor, nor isotopic turnover time, differed between birds consuming the chemosymbiotic lucinid and a control group consuming a photosynthesis-based bivalve. This was true for 13C as well as for 15N. However, in both groups the 15N discrimination factor was much higher than expected, which probably had to do with the birds losing body mass over the course of the experiment. Article in Journal/Newspaper Calidris canutus Red Knot Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 10 10 e0140221 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Jan A van Gils Mohamed Vall Ahmedou Salem Validating the Incorporation of 13C and 15N in a Shorebird That Consumes an Isotopically Distinct Chemosymbiotic Bivalve. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
The wealth of field studies using stable isotopes to make inferences about animal diets require controlled validation experiments to make proper interpretations. Despite several pleas in the literature for such experiments, validation studies are still lagging behind, notably in consumers dwelling in chemosynthesis-based ecosystems. In this paper we present such a validation experiment for the incorporation of 13C and 15N in the blood plasma of a medium-sized shorebird, the red knot (Calidris canutus canutus), consuming a chemosymbiotic lucinid bivalve (Loripes lucinalis). Because this bivalve forms a symbiosis with chemoautotrophic sulphide-oxidizing bacteria living inside its gill, the bivalve is isotopically distinct from 'normal' bivalves whose food has a photosynthetic basis. Here we experimentally tested the hypothesis that isotope discrimination and incorporation dynamics are different when consuming such chemosynthesis-based prey. The experiment showed that neither the isotopic discrimination factor, nor isotopic turnover time, differed between birds consuming the chemosymbiotic lucinid and a control group consuming a photosynthesis-based bivalve. This was true for 13C as well as for 15N. However, in both groups the 15N discrimination factor was much higher than expected, which probably had to do with the birds losing body mass over the course of the experiment. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jan A van Gils Mohamed Vall Ahmedou Salem |
author_facet |
Jan A van Gils Mohamed Vall Ahmedou Salem |
author_sort |
Jan A van Gils |
title |
Validating the Incorporation of 13C and 15N in a Shorebird That Consumes an Isotopically Distinct Chemosymbiotic Bivalve. |
title_short |
Validating the Incorporation of 13C and 15N in a Shorebird That Consumes an Isotopically Distinct Chemosymbiotic Bivalve. |
title_full |
Validating the Incorporation of 13C and 15N in a Shorebird That Consumes an Isotopically Distinct Chemosymbiotic Bivalve. |
title_fullStr |
Validating the Incorporation of 13C and 15N in a Shorebird That Consumes an Isotopically Distinct Chemosymbiotic Bivalve. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Validating the Incorporation of 13C and 15N in a Shorebird That Consumes an Isotopically Distinct Chemosymbiotic Bivalve. |
title_sort |
validating the incorporation of 13c and 15n in a shorebird that consumes an isotopically distinct chemosymbiotic bivalve. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140221 https://doaj.org/article/b1a21c402fd0440d820c8f7b912b7d07 |
genre |
Calidris canutus Red Knot |
genre_facet |
Calidris canutus Red Knot |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 10, p e0140221 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4601768?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140221 https://doaj.org/article/b1a21c402fd0440d820c8f7b912b7d07 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0140221 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
e0140221 |
_version_ |
1766383412875100160 |