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17 results for “stable isotope ecology”
Using protein isolation on elasmobranch blood plasma for ecological research and stable isotope analysis
<p>Stable isotope analysis is a useful tool for studying the ecology of elasmobranchs. Analysis of elasmobranch blood plasma provides insight into an individual's ecology on a small temporal scale. However, plasma is a systemic transport vessel containing many dissolved constituents in variable amounts, which may bias analyses and ecological conclusions based on that data.</p> <p>In this study, we develop a new method of protein precipitation using ethanol and acetonitrile to isolate the protein fraction of plasma from Sandbar Sharks, and examine its effects on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values. We also tested these solvent precipitations on bovine serum albumin as a control to assess the introduction of exogenous sources of C and N.</p> <p>Protein isolation resulted in a significant decrease in δ<sup>13</sup>C values and a significant increase in C:N compared to untreated plasma. Isolated proteins were not significantly different in δ<sup>15</sup>N value compared to untreated plasma. We observed no change in isotope composition in bovine serum albumin samples, indicating protein precipitation does not itself affect isotope analysis.</p> <p>These results suggest that the preparation of blood plasma is necessary for stable isotope analysis, to eliminate the biasing effects of other dissolved compounds. We find that solvent precipitation is an effective method of isolating proteins for stable isotope studies.</p>
Concordant patterns of morphological, stable isotope, and genetic variation in a recent ecological radiation (Salmonidae:Coregonus spp.)
<p>Groups of sympatric taxa with low inter-specific genetic differentiation, but considerable ecological differences, offer great opportunities to study the dynamics of divergence and speciation. This is the case of ciscoes (<em>Coregonus</em> spp.) in the Laurentian Great Lakes, which are characterized by a complex evolutionary history and are commonly described as having undergone an adaptive radiation. In this study, morphometrics, stable isotopes and transcriptome sequencing were used to study the relationships within the <em>Coregonus artedi</em> complex in western Lake Superior. We observed general concordance for morphological, ecological and genomic variation, but the latter was more taxonomically informative as it showed less overlap among species in multivariate space. Low levels of genetic differentiation were observed between individuals morphologically identified as <em>C. hoyi</em> and <em>C. zenithicus</em>, which could be evidence of incomplete lineage sorting or recent hybridization between the two groups. Transcriptome-based single nucleotide polymorphisms exhibited significant divergence for genes associated with vision, development, metabolism and immunity among species that occupy different habitats. This study highlights the importance of using an integrative approach when studying groups of taxa with a complex evolutionary history, as individual-level analyses of multiple independent datasets can provide a clearer picture of the patterns and processes associated with the origins of biodiversity.</p>
Baltic Sea stable isotope ecology meta-data collection
<p>Stable isotope analysis (SIA) has become a pivotal method in food web and ecological research, leading to the establishment of the research field "stable isotope ecology". We conducted the first systematic review of stable isotope studies in this field in the Baltic Sea macro-region (Eglite et al. 2022). The meta-data collection provided here includes the information extracted from all 164 studies identified in the systematic review across various dimensions (topic, space, time, taxonomic, and technical focus), but not primary stable isotope data. The first published version of this meta-data collection represents the status as of July 10, 2021, and was used to filter and extract meta-data to produce the figures and tables in the review by Eglite et al. (2022). The meta-data collection is a resource for both experienced isotope ecologists and newcomers to grasp and access all published Baltic Sea SIA work on any fundamental or applied research topic, sub-region, taxon, or trophic group of interest. It also represents an ideal foundation for an envisioned "Baltic Isobank" database of primary stable isotope data, following the vision outlined in Eglite et al. (2022). We will provide regular updates of the meta-data collection in the Dryad repository, based on new runs of the systematic review query and including any additions of research papers and corrections received from the stable isotope ecology community. For this purpose, we encourage researchers to inform us about newly published research papers employing stable isotopes in the Baltic Sea ecology field by sending an e-mail with the publication reference to baltic-isobank@geomar.de.</p>
Data from: New perspectives on soil animal trophic ecology through the lens of C and N stable isotope ratios of oribatid mites
<p>Knowledge of the trophic ecology of soil animals is important for understanding their high alpha diversity as well as their functional role in soil food webs and systems. In the last 20 years, the analysis of natural variations in stable isotope ratios (<sup>15</sup>N/<sup>14</sup>N, <sup>13</sup>C/<sup>12</sup>C) has revolutionized our view on soil animal trophic ecology. Here, we review the state of the art of the trophic ecology of a highly abundant and diverse soil animal taxon, oribatid mites (Oribatida), investigated by stable isotope analyses. The review is based on 25 papers reporting stable isotope data of 292 oribatid mite taxa from 30 different sites. Four main findings emerged. (1) Oribatid mites cluster into six trophic groups, i.e. moss feeders, lichen feeders, primary decomposers, fungal feeders/secondary decomposers, predators/scavengers and marine algal feeders, plus one additional group, which incorporates CaCO<sub>3</sub> in their cuticle for defence but still belongs to the fungal feeders/secondary decomposers group. (2) Of the 292 species studied 43.7% were classified as fungal feeders/secondary decomposers, 27.0% as primary decomposers and 15.7% as predators/scavengers, only few species include CaCO<sub>3</sub> into their skeleton (6.1%), feed on lichens (4.9%), mosses (2.1%) or marine algae (0.7%). (3) In about one-third of the species studied the trophic niche was constant or varied little between sites or habitats, but in two-thirds of the species, their trophic niche varied between habitats, with some species even shifting trophic levels, indicating trophic plasticity. (4) When aggregated at higher taxonomic level oribatid mite species clustered in only three instead of six trophic groups. This indicates that species within the same high-level taxon often belong to different trophic groups, for example, because feeding habits evolved convergently. Therefore, to accurately reflect the trophic ecology of oribatid mites their stable isotope signatures need to be analysed at the species level. However, stable isotope analyses also have limitations, e.g. feeding on bacteria and fungi cannot be separated, and the same is true for feeding on ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Other methods such as fatty acid, amino acid and molecular gut content analyses as well as microbiome analyses may complement stable isotope studies and resolve oribatid mite trophic niche differentiation at a higher resolution. This will contribute to a better understanding of the local coexistence of large numbers of species in soil. Finally, we provide perspectives on how to integrate microarthropods into soil food webs using stable isotope and other methods allowing deeper insight into their<br>trophic structure.</p>
Raw data for: Stable Isotope Trajectory Analysis (SITA): A new approach to quantify and visualize dynamics in stable isotope studies. Sturbois et al., in revision in Ecological Monographs
<p>These data sets are used as ecological applications in Sturbois et al., in revision, Stable Isotope Trajectory Analysis (SITA): A new approach to quantify and visualize dynamics in stable isotope studies. submitted in Ecological Monographs.</p> <p>- DataS1_furseals.Rdata originates from: Kernaléguen, L., Cazelles, B., Arnould, J.P.Y., Richard, P., Guinet, C., Cherel, Y., 2012. Long-Term Species, Sexual and Individual Variations in Foraging Strategies of Fur Seals Revealed by Stable Isotopes in Whiskers. PLoS ONE 7, e32916. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0032916</p> <p>- DataS2_Pike.Rdata originates from: Cucherousset, J., Paillisson, J.-M., Roussel, J.-M., 2013. Natal departure timing from spatially varying environments is dependent of individual ontogenetic status. Naturwissenschaften 100, 761–768. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-013-1073-y</p> <p>- DataS4_GT1.Rdata and DataS5_GT2.Rdata originate from: Quillien, N., Nordström, M.C., Schaal, G., Bonsdorff, E., Grall, J., 2016. Opportunistic basal resource simplifies food web structure and functioning of a highly dynamic marine environment. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 477, 92–102.</p> <p>- DataS6_Lakes.Rdata originates from: Zhao, T., Villéger, S., Cucherousset, J., 2019. Accounting for intraspecific diversity when examining relationships between non-native species and functional diversity. Oecologia 189, 171–183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-018-4311-3</p> <p>Information about respective sampling strategies and sample preparation are available in these original articles. All use of this data sets must cite original article as well as the SITA article.</p>
Data from: New perspectives on soil animal trophic ecology through the lens of C and N stable isotope ratios of oribatid mites
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Concordant patterns of morphological, stable isotope, and genetic variation in a recent ecological radiation (Salmonidae:Coregonus spp.)
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Baltic Sea stable isotope ecology meta-data collection
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Data from: Intra- and interspecific niche variation as reconstructed from stable isotopes in two ecologically different Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes
1. The concept of species niches has enhanced our understanding of community assembly and food web structure in a variety of ecosystem types. Niche-based species sorting profoundly determines community composition along strong environmental gradients, while interspecific interactions tend to be more important within habitats at local spatial scales. The role of intraspecific niche variation in community assembly and ecosystem functioning has only recently been highlighted. 2. The present study undertakes a quantitative comparison of the trophic structure of fish communities in two iconic Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes, Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo, which are biodiversity hotspots with high societal importance. The lakes differ strongly in ecology: whereas Lake Abaya is turbid due to a very high sediment loading, Lake Chamo is a clear-water lake, which in recent years is, however, rapidly becoming more turbid. Using stable isotopes, we compare the structure of the food web in both lakes, and investigate the degree to which differences in trophic structure between the two lakes are mediated by changes in species composition with fixed within-species niches or rather by flexibility in food acquisition within species. 3. Different food web compartments, including fish and the main basal sources, were sampled in both lakes. We used Bayesian stable isotope mixing models and Bayesian community-wide metrics for a quantitative comparison of the food web structure between the two lakes. 4. We demonstrate that the isotopic niche of the fish community in Lake Abaya is larger and more diversified compared to that in Lake Chamo. Sediment organic material seems to be a major energy source for fish in Abaya, while zooplankton is a dominant source for fish in Chamo. This is consistent with the different ecology of the two lakes, where high turbidity impedes primary and secondary production in Abaya. Differences in trophic structure between the two lakes resulted from intraspecific isotopic niche variation rather than from compositional variation between fish communities. 5. Our results point to the importance of intraspecific variation in feeding ecology of fish communities inhabiting two large Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes with distinct environmental conditions. We anticipate that the approach we used has strong potential to explore large-scale patterns in food web organization in relation to niche variation across different types of ecosystems.
Trophic ecology in an anchialine cave: a stable isotope study
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Data from: Intra- and interspecific niche variation as reconstructed from stable isotopes in two ecologically different Ethiopian Rift Valley lakes
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Supporting Data To: Shark tooth collagen stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) as ecological proxies
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Data from: Ecological forensics: using single point stable isotope values to infer seasonal schedules of animals after two diet switches
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Data from: The stable isotope ecology of mycalesine butterflies: implications for plant-insect co-evolution
One of the most dramatic examples of biome shifts in the geological record is the rapid replacement of C3 vegetation by C4 grasses in (sub-) tropical regions during the Late Miocene–Pliocene. Climate-driven biome shifts of this magnitude are expected to have a major impact on diversification and ecological speciation, especially in grazing taxa. Mycalesine butterflies are excellent candidates to explore the evolutionary impact of these C3/C4 shifts on insect grazer communities. Mycalesine butterflies feed on grasses as larvae, have radiated spectacularly and occur in almost all extant habitats across the Old World tropics. However, at present, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the larval ecology of these butterflies and this hampers investigations of co-evolutionary patterns among the geographically parallel radiations of mycalesine butterflies and the remarkable evolutionary history of their host plants. By conducting several experiments under defined environmental conditions, we demonstrate that the feeding history of mycalesine larvae on C3 and C4 grasses can be traced by analysing δ13C in the organic material of the adult exoskeleton, while values of δ18O in the adult reflect atmospheric humidity during larval development. To show the power of these isotopic proxies for ecological studies, we analysed the isotopic composition of organic material obtained from adult butterflies sampled in two extensive longitudinal surveys. We observed strong associations among the larval ecology, habitat preferences of the adult butterflies and patterns of seasonality, such that mycalesine species that inhabit open environments are more opportunistic in their host plant choice but utilize C3 grasses more frequently during the dry season. Crucially, the ability to process the less palatable C4 grasses appears to be phylogenetically clustered within mycalesine species, suggesting that novel feeding adaptations may have evolved in response to the ecological dominance of C4 grasses in open savanna habitats.
Data from: The prevention and detection of human error in ecological stable isotope analysis
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Data from: Important impacts of tissue selection and lipid extraction on ecological parameters derived from stable isotope ratios
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Data from: The stable isotope ecology of mycalesine butterflies: implications for plant-insect co-evolution
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Allen Brain Atlas
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DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
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International Brain Laboratory public data
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OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.