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Tracking Cats: Problems with Placing Feline Carnivores on δ(18)O, δD Isoscapes

BACKGROUND: Several felids are endangered and threatened by the illegal wildlife trade. Establishing geographic origin of tissues of endangered species is thus crucial for wildlife crime investigations and effective conservation strategies. As shown in other species, stable isotope analysis of hydro...

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Autores principales: Pietsch, Stephanie J., Hobson, Keith A., Wassenaar, Leonard I., Tütken, Thomas
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3170367/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21931770
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024601
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author Pietsch, Stephanie J.
Hobson, Keith A.
Wassenaar, Leonard I.
Tütken, Thomas
author_facet Pietsch, Stephanie J.
Hobson, Keith A.
Wassenaar, Leonard I.
Tütken, Thomas
author_sort Pietsch, Stephanie J.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Several felids are endangered and threatened by the illegal wildlife trade. Establishing geographic origin of tissues of endangered species is thus crucial for wildlife crime investigations and effective conservation strategies. As shown in other species, stable isotope analysis of hydrogen and oxygen in hair (δD(h), δ(18)O(h)) can be used as a tool for provenance determination. However, reliably predicting the spatial distribution of δD(h) and δ(18)O(h) requires confirmation from animal tissues of known origin and a detailed understanding of the isotopic routing of dietary nutrients into felid hair. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: We used coupled δD(h) and δ(18)O(h) measurements from the North American bobcat (Lynx rufus) and puma (Puma concolor) with precipitation-based assignment isoscapes to test the feasibility of isotopic geo-location of felidae. Hairs of felid and rabbit museum specimens from 75 sites across the United States and Canada were analyzed. Bobcat and puma lacked a significant correlation between H/O isotopes in hair and local waters, and also exhibited an isotopic decoupling of δ(18)O(h) and δD(h). Conversely, strong δD and δ(18)O coupling was found for key prey, eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus; hair) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; collagen, bone phosphate). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Puma and bobcat hairs do not adhere to expected pattern of H and O isotopic variation predicted by precipitation isoscapes for North America. Thus, using bulk hair, felids cannot be placed on δ(18)O and δD isoscapes for use in forensic investigations. The effective application of isotopes to trace the provenance of feline carnivores is likely compromised by major controls of their diet, physiology and metabolism on hair δ(18)O and δD related to body water budgets. Controlled feeding experiments, combined with single amino acid isotope analysis of diets and hair, are needed to reveal mechanisms and physiological traits explaining why felid hair does not follow isotopic patterns demonstrated in many other taxa.
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spelling pubmed-31703672011-09-19 Tracking Cats: Problems with Placing Feline Carnivores on δ(18)O, δD Isoscapes Pietsch, Stephanie J. Hobson, Keith A. Wassenaar, Leonard I. Tütken, Thomas PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Several felids are endangered and threatened by the illegal wildlife trade. Establishing geographic origin of tissues of endangered species is thus crucial for wildlife crime investigations and effective conservation strategies. As shown in other species, stable isotope analysis of hydrogen and oxygen in hair (δD(h), δ(18)O(h)) can be used as a tool for provenance determination. However, reliably predicting the spatial distribution of δD(h) and δ(18)O(h) requires confirmation from animal tissues of known origin and a detailed understanding of the isotopic routing of dietary nutrients into felid hair. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: We used coupled δD(h) and δ(18)O(h) measurements from the North American bobcat (Lynx rufus) and puma (Puma concolor) with precipitation-based assignment isoscapes to test the feasibility of isotopic geo-location of felidae. Hairs of felid and rabbit museum specimens from 75 sites across the United States and Canada were analyzed. Bobcat and puma lacked a significant correlation between H/O isotopes in hair and local waters, and also exhibited an isotopic decoupling of δ(18)O(h) and δD(h). Conversely, strong δD and δ(18)O coupling was found for key prey, eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus; hair) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; collagen, bone phosphate). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Puma and bobcat hairs do not adhere to expected pattern of H and O isotopic variation predicted by precipitation isoscapes for North America. Thus, using bulk hair, felids cannot be placed on δ(18)O and δD isoscapes for use in forensic investigations. The effective application of isotopes to trace the provenance of feline carnivores is likely compromised by major controls of their diet, physiology and metabolism on hair δ(18)O and δD related to body water budgets. Controlled feeding experiments, combined with single amino acid isotope analysis of diets and hair, are needed to reveal mechanisms and physiological traits explaining why felid hair does not follow isotopic patterns demonstrated in many other taxa. Public Library of Science 2011-09-09 /pmc/articles/PMC3170367/ /pubmed/21931770 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024601 Text en Pietsch et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Pietsch, Stephanie J.
Hobson, Keith A.
Wassenaar, Leonard I.
Tütken, Thomas
Tracking Cats: Problems with Placing Feline Carnivores on δ(18)O, δD Isoscapes
title Tracking Cats: Problems with Placing Feline Carnivores on δ(18)O, δD Isoscapes
title_full Tracking Cats: Problems with Placing Feline Carnivores on δ(18)O, δD Isoscapes
title_fullStr Tracking Cats: Problems with Placing Feline Carnivores on δ(18)O, δD Isoscapes
title_full_unstemmed Tracking Cats: Problems with Placing Feline Carnivores on δ(18)O, δD Isoscapes
title_short Tracking Cats: Problems with Placing Feline Carnivores on δ(18)O, δD Isoscapes
title_sort tracking cats: problems with placing feline carnivores on δ(18)o, δd isoscapes
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3170367/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21931770
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024601
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