Stable isotopes, ecological integration and environmental change: wolves record atmospheric carbon isotope trend better than tree rings
Large-scale patterns of isotope ratios are detectable in the tissues of organisms, but the variability in these patterns often obscures detection of environmental trends. We show that plants and animals at lower trophic levels are relatively poor indicators of the temporal trend in atmospheric carbo...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2274977 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17686730 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0700 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:2274977 2023-05-15T13:13:25+02:00 Stable isotopes, ecological integration and environmental change: wolves record atmospheric carbon isotope trend better than tree rings Bump, Joseph K Fox-Dobbs, Kena Bada, Jeffrey L Koch, Paul L Peterson, Rolf O Vucetich, John A 2007-08-07 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2274977 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17686730 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0700 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2274977 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17686730 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0700 © 2007 The Royal Society Research Article Text 2007 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0700 2013-09-01T16:52:42Z Large-scale patterns of isotope ratios are detectable in the tissues of organisms, but the variability in these patterns often obscures detection of environmental trends. We show that plants and animals at lower trophic levels are relatively poor indicators of the temporal trend in atmospheric carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) when compared with animals at higher trophic levels. First, we tested how differences in atmospheric δ13C values were transferred across three trophic levels. Second, we compared contemporary δ13C trends (1961–2004) in atmospheric CO2 to δ13C patterns in a tree species (jack pine, Pinus banksiana), large herbivore (moose, Alces alces) and large carnivore (grey wolf, Canis lupus) from North America. Third, we compared palaeontological (approx. 30 000 to 12 000 14C years before present) atmospheric CO2 trends to δ13C patterns in a tree species (Pinus flexilis, Juniperus sp.), a megaherbivore (bison, Bison antiquus) and a large carnivore (dire wolf, Canis dirus) from the La Brea tar pits (southern California, USA) and Great Basin (western USA). Contrary to previous expectations, we found that the environmental isotope pattern is better represented with increasing trophic level. Our results indicate that museum specimens of large carnivores would best reflect large-scale spatial and temporal patterns of carbon isotopes in the palaeontological record because top predators can act as ecological integrators of environmental change. Text Alces alces Canis lupus PubMed Central (PMC) Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274 1624 2471 2480 |
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Research Article Bump, Joseph K Fox-Dobbs, Kena Bada, Jeffrey L Koch, Paul L Peterson, Rolf O Vucetich, John A Stable isotopes, ecological integration and environmental change: wolves record atmospheric carbon isotope trend better than tree rings |
topic_facet |
Research Article |
description |
Large-scale patterns of isotope ratios are detectable in the tissues of organisms, but the variability in these patterns often obscures detection of environmental trends. We show that plants and animals at lower trophic levels are relatively poor indicators of the temporal trend in atmospheric carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) when compared with animals at higher trophic levels. First, we tested how differences in atmospheric δ13C values were transferred across three trophic levels. Second, we compared contemporary δ13C trends (1961–2004) in atmospheric CO2 to δ13C patterns in a tree species (jack pine, Pinus banksiana), large herbivore (moose, Alces alces) and large carnivore (grey wolf, Canis lupus) from North America. Third, we compared palaeontological (approx. 30 000 to 12 000 14C years before present) atmospheric CO2 trends to δ13C patterns in a tree species (Pinus flexilis, Juniperus sp.), a megaherbivore (bison, Bison antiquus) and a large carnivore (dire wolf, Canis dirus) from the La Brea tar pits (southern California, USA) and Great Basin (western USA). Contrary to previous expectations, we found that the environmental isotope pattern is better represented with increasing trophic level. Our results indicate that museum specimens of large carnivores would best reflect large-scale spatial and temporal patterns of carbon isotopes in the palaeontological record because top predators can act as ecological integrators of environmental change. |
format |
Text |
author |
Bump, Joseph K Fox-Dobbs, Kena Bada, Jeffrey L Koch, Paul L Peterson, Rolf O Vucetich, John A |
author_facet |
Bump, Joseph K Fox-Dobbs, Kena Bada, Jeffrey L Koch, Paul L Peterson, Rolf O Vucetich, John A |
author_sort |
Bump, Joseph K |
title |
Stable isotopes, ecological integration and environmental change: wolves record atmospheric carbon isotope trend better than tree rings |
title_short |
Stable isotopes, ecological integration and environmental change: wolves record atmospheric carbon isotope trend better than tree rings |
title_full |
Stable isotopes, ecological integration and environmental change: wolves record atmospheric carbon isotope trend better than tree rings |
title_fullStr |
Stable isotopes, ecological integration and environmental change: wolves record atmospheric carbon isotope trend better than tree rings |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stable isotopes, ecological integration and environmental change: wolves record atmospheric carbon isotope trend better than tree rings |
title_sort |
stable isotopes, ecological integration and environmental change: wolves record atmospheric carbon isotope trend better than tree rings |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2274977 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17686730 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0700 |
genre |
Alces alces Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Canis lupus |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2274977 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17686730 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0700 |
op_rights |
© 2007 The Royal Society |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0700 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
274 |
container_issue |
1624 |
container_start_page |
2471 |
op_container_end_page |
2480 |
_version_ |
1766258223773384704 |