Diet: tissue stable isotope fractionation of carbon and nitrogen in blood plasma and whole blood of male reindeer Rangifer tarandus |
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Authors: | D J Halley M Minagawa M Nieminen E Gaare |
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Institution: | (1) Norsk institutt for naturforskning, Tungasletta 2, 7485 Trondheim, Norway;(2) Section of Integrated Environmental Science, Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, N10W5 Kita-ku, Sapporo Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan;(3) RKTL Porontutkimusasema, 99910 Kaamanen, Finland |
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Abstract: | Estimates of diet derived from stable isotope analyses are sensitive to the accuracy of corrections made for diet-tissue fractionation.
In particular, diet-tissue fractionation in reindeer Rangifer tarandus may be expected to differ significantly from the generic values often used in stable isotope dietary calculations, given
the known values obtained from other ungulates and the complex digestive system and nutrient recycling characteristic of the
species. We fed domestic reindeer a homogenous artificial diet of known isotopic value in order to directly determine diet-tissue
isotopic fractionation of carbon and nitrogen, the main elements used in stable isotope dietary analyses. Diet-tissue fractionation
values for blood plasma were +3.5 ± 0.1‰ (δ13C) and +4.2 ± 0.3‰ (δ15N). Diet-tissue fractionation values for whole blood were +3.7 ± 0.2‰ (δ13C) and +2.5 ± 0.3‰ (δ15N). Metabolic turnover rates were clearly sufficient for complete tissue replacement over the period of artificial feeding
for blood plasma, but may not have been so for whole blood, especially for δ15N. Our values, except for whole blood δ15N, differ considerably from the generic values often used in dietary studies and interspecific comparisons of trophic niche.
The results underline the importance of obtaining as specific as possible fractionation values for the species, tissue, and
in some cases sex and physiological status of animals under examination, and the potential problems associated with assuming
‘generic’ fractionation values when comparing species, especially where digestive processes are dissimilar. |
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