An analysis of dietary variation in Icelandic arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years using stable isotopes
Identifying the food resources for a species is one of the basic steps towards understanding population dynamics. The arctic fox is the only terrestrial carnivore on Iceland, and the population had been increasing until recently. Therefore, it is of great importance to know what factors regulate the...
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UiT Norges arktiske universitet
2017
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/11130 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/11130 2023-05-15T14:31:04+02:00 An analysis of dietary variation in Icelandic arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years using stable isotopes Ellgutter, Jennifer Alejandrina Carbonell 2017-05-14 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/11130 eng eng UiT Norges arktiske universitet UiT The Arctic University of Norway https://hdl.handle.net/10037/11130 openAccess Copyright 2017 The Author(s) VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Vulpes lagopus Arctic fox Stable isotope analysis Iceland Diet Population dynamics BIO-3950 Master thesis Mastergradsoppgave 2017 ftunivtroemsoe 2021-06-25T17:55:17Z Identifying the food resources for a species is one of the basic steps towards understanding population dynamics. The arctic fox is the only terrestrial carnivore on Iceland, and the population had been increasing until recently. Therefore, it is of great importance to know what factors regulate the population growth and which resources support it to understand why the population fluctuates. In this study, stable isotope analysis of arctic fox collagen from Iceland was performed, which revealed what arctic foxes were consuming in their first year of life. The samples used were from 1979 to 2011, period of steady increase of the population. The isotopic signatures were separated between three periods of time (1979-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2011), two habitats (coastal and inland) and sexes (female and male). The results showed that the diet of young arctic foxes had changed over the study period, as well as a difference in use of resources within and between foxes utilizing different habitats. The results suggested that the main prey items for foxes living in coastal habitats were marine resources while rock ptarmigan was a main resource for inland foxes, even though foxes in both habitats displayed a varied diet. It could be noted that coastal foxes displayed more isotopic changes between periods than inland foxes, and that males living at the coast had more variation on isotopic signatures in comparison with females. From this, it could be suggested that coastal habitats have more availability of different resources and that probably males disperse more than females. These results show how a generalist predator shifts use of resources over the time. Keywords: Vulpes lagopus, arctic fox, stable isotope analysis, diet, Iceland, population dynamics Master Thesis Arctic Fox Arctic Iceland rock ptarmigan Vulpes lagopus University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Vulpes lagopus Arctic fox Stable isotope analysis Iceland Diet Population dynamics BIO-3950 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Vulpes lagopus Arctic fox Stable isotope analysis Iceland Diet Population dynamics BIO-3950 Ellgutter, Jennifer Alejandrina Carbonell An analysis of dietary variation in Icelandic arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years using stable isotopes |
topic_facet |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480 Vulpes lagopus Arctic fox Stable isotope analysis Iceland Diet Population dynamics BIO-3950 |
description |
Identifying the food resources for a species is one of the basic steps towards understanding population dynamics. The arctic fox is the only terrestrial carnivore on Iceland, and the population had been increasing until recently. Therefore, it is of great importance to know what factors regulate the population growth and which resources support it to understand why the population fluctuates. In this study, stable isotope analysis of arctic fox collagen from Iceland was performed, which revealed what arctic foxes were consuming in their first year of life. The samples used were from 1979 to 2011, period of steady increase of the population. The isotopic signatures were separated between three periods of time (1979-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2011), two habitats (coastal and inland) and sexes (female and male). The results showed that the diet of young arctic foxes had changed over the study period, as well as a difference in use of resources within and between foxes utilizing different habitats. The results suggested that the main prey items for foxes living in coastal habitats were marine resources while rock ptarmigan was a main resource for inland foxes, even though foxes in both habitats displayed a varied diet. It could be noted that coastal foxes displayed more isotopic changes between periods than inland foxes, and that males living at the coast had more variation on isotopic signatures in comparison with females. From this, it could be suggested that coastal habitats have more availability of different resources and that probably males disperse more than females. These results show how a generalist predator shifts use of resources over the time. Keywords: Vulpes lagopus, arctic fox, stable isotope analysis, diet, Iceland, population dynamics |
format |
Master Thesis |
author |
Ellgutter, Jennifer Alejandrina Carbonell |
author_facet |
Ellgutter, Jennifer Alejandrina Carbonell |
author_sort |
Ellgutter, Jennifer Alejandrina Carbonell |
title |
An analysis of dietary variation in Icelandic arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years using stable isotopes |
title_short |
An analysis of dietary variation in Icelandic arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years using stable isotopes |
title_full |
An analysis of dietary variation in Icelandic arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years using stable isotopes |
title_fullStr |
An analysis of dietary variation in Icelandic arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years using stable isotopes |
title_full_unstemmed |
An analysis of dietary variation in Icelandic arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years using stable isotopes |
title_sort |
analysis of dietary variation in icelandic arctic fox (vulpes lagopus) over a period of 30 years using stable isotopes |
publisher |
UiT Norges arktiske universitet |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/11130 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Fox Arctic Iceland rock ptarmigan Vulpes lagopus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fox Arctic Iceland rock ptarmigan Vulpes lagopus |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/11130 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2017 The Author(s) |
_version_ |
1766304798528765952 |