Stable-carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of songbird feathers grown in two terrestrial biomes: Implications for evaluating trophic relationships and breeding origins

Condor

Volumn 101, Issue 4, 1999, Pages 799-805

  Hobson, Keith A ^a,b  

^a ENVIRONMENT CANADA   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN   (Canada)

Author keywords

Boreal forest; Carbon 13; Feathers; Frugivory; Migration; Nectarivory; Nitrogen 15; Stable isotopes

Indexed keywords

AVES; PASSERI;

EID: 0032737133     PISSN: 00105422     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/1370067     Document Type: Article

References (33)

1. ALEXANDER, S. A., K. A. HOBSON, C. L. GRATTO-TREVOR, AND A. W. DIAMOND. 1996. Conventional and isotopic determinations of shorebird diets at an inland stopover: the importance of invertebrates and Potamogeton pectinatus tubers. Can. J. Zool. 74: 1057-1068.
2. BEARHOP, S., D. R. THOMPSON, S. WALDRON, I. C. RUSSELL, G. ALEXANDER, AND R. W. FURNESS. In press. Stable isotopes indicate the extent of freshwater feeding by cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo from inland fisheries in England. J. Appl. Ecol.
3. BRISKIE, J. V., AND S. G. SEALY. 1989. Determination of clutch size in the Least Flycatcher. Auk 106: 269-278.
4. CHAMBERLAIN, C. P., J. D. BLUM, R. T. HOLMES, X. FENG, T. W. SHERRY, AND G. R. GRAVES. 1997. The use of isotope tracers for identifying populations of migratory birds. Oecologia 109:132-141.
5. HEBERT, C. E., J. L. SHUTT, K. A. HOBSON, AND D. V. CHIP WESELOH. In press. Spatial and temporal differences in the diet of Great Lakes Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus): evidence from stable isotope analysis. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.
6. HOBSON, K. A. 1999. Tracing origins and migration of wildlife using stable isotopes: a review. Oecologia, in press.
7. HOBSON, K. A., AND R. W. CLARK. 1992. Assessing avian diets using stable isotopes. II: factors influencing diet-tissue fractionation. Condor 94:189-197.
8. HOBSON, K. A., K. D. HUGHES, AND P. J. EWINS. 1997. Using stable-isotope analysis to identify endogenous and exogenous sources of nutrients in eggs of migratory birds: applications to Great Lakes contaminants research. Auk 114:467-478.
9. HOBSON, K. A., AND D. M. SCHELL. 1998. Stable-carbon and nitrogen isotope patterns in baleen from eastern Arctic bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus). Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 55:1-7.
10. HOBSON, K. A., AND L. I. WASSENAAR. 1997. Linking breeding and wintering grounds of Neotropical migrant songbirds using stable hydrogen isotopic analysis of feathers. Oecologia 109:142-148.
11. KELLY, J. F., AND D. M. FINCH. 1998. Tracking migrant songbirds with stable isotopes. Trends Ecol. Evol. 13:48-49.
12. KIDD, K. A. 1998. Use of stable isotope ratios in freshwater and marine biomagnification studies, p. 357-376. In J. Rose [ed.], Environmental toxicology: current developments. Gordon and Breach Science, Amsterdam.
13. LAJTHA, K., AND J. D. MARSHALL. 1994. Sources of variation in the stable isotopic composition of plants, p. 1-21. In K. Lajtha and R. H. Michener [EDS.], Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science. Blackwell Scientific, London.
14. 13C in tree rings, p. 95-104. In P. W. Rundel, J. R. Ehleringer, and K. A. Nagy [EDS.], Stable isotopes in ecological research. Springer-Verlag, New York.
15. MACKENZIE, D. I. 1982. The dune-ridge forest, Delta Marsh, Manitoba: overstory vegetation and soil patterns. Can. Field-Nat. 96:61-68.
16. MACKENZIE, D. I., S. G. SEALY, AND G. D. SUTHERLAND. 1982. Nest site characteristics of the avian community in the dune-ridge forest, Delta Marsh, Manitoba: a multivariate analysis. Can. J. Zool. 60:2212-2223.
17. MARA, P., K. A. HOBSON, AND R. T. HOLMES. 1998. Linking winter and summer events in a migratory bird by using stable carbon isotopes. Science 282: 1884-1886
18. MARRIOTI, A., J. C. GERMON, AND P. HUBERT. 1981. Experimental determination of nitrogen kinetic isotope fractionations: some principles; illustration for the denitrification and nitrification processes. Plant and Soil 62:413-430.
19. 13C values in tropical rain forests of the Upper Rio Negro Basin, Venezuela. J. Trop. Ecol. 2:207-217.
20. 13C in closed natural and plantation forests in the luquillo mountains, Puerto Rico. Oecologia 87:369-372.
21. MIZUTANI, H., M. FUKUDA, Y. KABAYA, AND E. WADA. 1990. Carbon isotope ratio of feathers reveals feeding behavior of cormorants. Auk 107:400-03.
22. NADELHOFFER, K. J., AND B. FRY. 1994. Nitrogen isotope studies in forest ecosystems, p. 22-44. In K. Lajtha and R. H. Michener [EDS.], Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science. Blackwell Scientific, London.
23. PETERSON, B. J., AND B. FRY. 1987. Stable isotopes in ecosystem studies. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 18: 293-320.
24. PYLE, P., S. N. G. HOWELL, R. P. YUNICK, AND D. F. DESANTE. 1987. Identification guide to North American passerines. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, CA.
25. ROBINSON, T. R., R. R. SARGENT, AND M. B. SARGENT. 1996. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). In A. Poole and F. Gill [EDS.], The birds of North America, No. 204. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC.
26. SHEARER, G. B., D. H. KOHL, AND S. H. CHIEN. 1978. The nitrogen-15 abundance in a wide variety of soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 42:899-902.
27. STERNBERG, L. S. L., S. S. MULKEY, AND S. J. WRIGHT. 1989. Ecological interpretation of leaf carbon isotope ratios: influence of respired carbon dioxide. Ecology 70:1317-1324.
28. SUTHERLAND, R. A., C. VAN KESSEL, R. E. FARRELL, AND D. J. PENNOCK. 1993. Landscape-scale variations in plant and soil nitrogen-15 natural abundance. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 57:169-178.
29. THOMPSON, D. R., S. BEARHOP, J. R. SPEAKMAN, AND R. W. FURNESS. 1998. Feathers as a means of monitoring mercury in seabirds: insights from stable isotope analysis. Environ. Poll. 101:193-200.
30. THOMPSON, D. R., AND R. W. FURNESS. 1995. Stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in feathers indicate seasonal dietary shifts in Northern Fulmars. Auk 112:493-498.
31. 13C values in Northern Fulmars (Fulmaris glacialis) from two northeast Atlantic colonies. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser. 125:3-11.
32. TIESZEN, L. L., AND T. W. BOUTTON. 1988. Stable isotopes in terrestrial ecosystem research., p. 167-195. In P. W. Rundel, J. R. Ehleringer, and K. A. Nagy [EDS.], Stable isotopes in ecological research. Springer-Verlag, New York.
33. WITMER, M. C., D. J. MOUNTJOY, AND L. ELLIOT. 1997. Cedar Waxwing (Bomycilla cedrorum). In A. Poole and F. Gill [EDS.], The birds of North America, No. 309. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC.