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Discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in meerkat feces

Stable isotope analysis of feces can provide a non-invasive method for tracking the dietary habits of nearly any mammalian species. While fecal samples are often collected for macroscopic and genetic study, stable isotope analysis can also be applied to expand the knowledge of species-specific dieta...

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Autor principal: Montanari, Shaena
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5472036/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28626611
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3436
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author Montanari, Shaena
author_facet Montanari, Shaena
author_sort Montanari, Shaena
collection PubMed
description Stable isotope analysis of feces can provide a non-invasive method for tracking the dietary habits of nearly any mammalian species. While fecal samples are often collected for macroscopic and genetic study, stable isotope analysis can also be applied to expand the knowledge of species-specific dietary ecology. It is somewhat unclear how digestion changes the isotope ratios of animals’ diets, so more controlled diet studies are needed. To date, most diet-to-feces controlled stable isotope experiments have been performed on herbivores, so in this study I analyzed the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in the diet and feces of the meerkat (Suricata suricatta), a small omnivorous mammal. The carbon trophic discrimination factor between diet and feces (Δ(13)C(feces)) is calculated to be 0.1 ± 1.5‰, which is not significantly different from zero, and in turn, not different than the dietary input. On the other hand, the nitrogen trophic discrimination factor (Δ(15)N(feces)) is 1.5 ± 1.1‰, which is significantly different from zero, meaning it is different than the average dietary input. Based on data generated in this experiment and a review of the published literature, carbon isotopes of feces characterize diet, while nitrogen isotope ratios of feces are consistently higher than dietary inputs, meaning a discrimination factor needs to be taken into account. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values of feces are an excellent snapshot of diet that can be used in concert with other analytical methods to better understand ecology, diets, and habitat use of mammals.
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spelling pubmed-54720362017-06-16 Discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in meerkat feces Montanari, Shaena PeerJ Animal Behavior Stable isotope analysis of feces can provide a non-invasive method for tracking the dietary habits of nearly any mammalian species. While fecal samples are often collected for macroscopic and genetic study, stable isotope analysis can also be applied to expand the knowledge of species-specific dietary ecology. It is somewhat unclear how digestion changes the isotope ratios of animals’ diets, so more controlled diet studies are needed. To date, most diet-to-feces controlled stable isotope experiments have been performed on herbivores, so in this study I analyzed the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in the diet and feces of the meerkat (Suricata suricatta), a small omnivorous mammal. The carbon trophic discrimination factor between diet and feces (Δ(13)C(feces)) is calculated to be 0.1 ± 1.5‰, which is not significantly different from zero, and in turn, not different than the dietary input. On the other hand, the nitrogen trophic discrimination factor (Δ(15)N(feces)) is 1.5 ± 1.1‰, which is significantly different from zero, meaning it is different than the average dietary input. Based on data generated in this experiment and a review of the published literature, carbon isotopes of feces characterize diet, while nitrogen isotope ratios of feces are consistently higher than dietary inputs, meaning a discrimination factor needs to be taken into account. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values of feces are an excellent snapshot of diet that can be used in concert with other analytical methods to better understand ecology, diets, and habitat use of mammals. PeerJ Inc. 2017-06-13 /pmc/articles/PMC5472036/ /pubmed/28626611 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3436 Text en ©2017 Montanari http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Animal Behavior
Montanari, Shaena
Discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in meerkat feces
title Discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in meerkat feces
title_full Discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in meerkat feces
title_fullStr Discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in meerkat feces
title_full_unstemmed Discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in meerkat feces
title_short Discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in meerkat feces
title_sort discrimination factors of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in meerkat feces
topic Animal Behavior
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5472036/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28626611
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3436
work_keys_str_mv AT montanarishaena discriminationfactorsofcarbonandnitrogenstableisotopesinmeerkatfeces