稳定同位素分析在鸟类食性及营养级结构中的应用

稳定同位素分析(stable isotope analysis,SIA)自20世纪70年代末引入鸟类生态学领域以来,在研究鸟类食性和营养级结构方面展现了强大的发展潜力和广泛的应用前景。总结了该技术在鸟类食源组成和营养级结构方面研究的前期准备、实验流程、数据分析和研究进展等,重点阐述了其在鸟类保护与管理方面的应用。鉴于稳定同位素在生物体内存在分馏现象,从鸟类不同组织和部位对营养级富集因子、转化周期、同位素印记的差异,提出了完善该方法的建议和应用前景。

Application of stable isotope analyses to avian diets and trophic structure

In the past three decades, the application of the stable isotope technique to avian ecology has become increasingly widespread. The use of stable isotopes in the current studies relied on two principles. First, the isotopic composition of animal tissues reflects that of the diet in a predictable manner. Second, because tissues turn over at different rates, they integrate this information over different temporal scales and, if the animal is mobile, different spatial scales. This technique overcomes the limitations of traditional methods, especially in aspects of the different temporal-spatial diets, trophic structure of consumers, and trophic levels within the food web. In this paper, we summarize the preparation, working process, and data analysis of the application of stable isotope analyses in the avian diet and trophic structure. The paper also discusses the current progress of this technique in the origin of avian diets and trophic structure positioning. In particular, we review its main applications in terms of conservation and management: (1) to assess the impacts of habitat change on the population reproduction, (2) to detect the causes related to population dynamics, and (3) to estimate the nutrient allocation of reproduction in the breeding ground compared with that in the wintering ground. However, despite its potential, the technique is still regarded as a black box by many ornithologists. In most instances, these techniques did not fully take into account the limitations of stable isotope analysis as applied to avian ecology (for example, specific-species discrimination factor, different-tissue turn-over ratio, and isotope signatures). We also discuss the issues related to improvement and perspectives for the future application of this approach.